Purpose of Our Being

Purpose of Our Being
What’s It All About, Alfie

Now, this is going to date me, but I studied astrophysics by watching Carl Sagan’s Cosmos series in 1980. If you are near my age, you will remember Vangelis’ Heaven and Hell as an introduction to my class and yours.

I spent a little over a dozen years studying after high school, which added up to some more than 360 hours of classes. Do you wish to guess how many hours of science I had? I took geology in my freshman year of college, which amounts to a vast total of ten hours. Nonetheless, Sagan taught me far more than what I learned in geology.

https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/carl-sagan-birth-anniversary-1082635-2017-11-09

Sagan’s successor was Neil deGrasse Tyson. Both Sagan and Tyson were able to communicate to those not in the world of science about the understanding of astrophysics.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/the-cult-of-neil-degrasse-tyson-111540

This video is one of Tyson’s basic lessons: 101 The Meaning of Life. In his 2:33 classroom video, he addresses the purpose of the universe.

Even a person lacking any science background, Tyson can, like Sagan, get everyone on the same informed page of science when it comes to our purpose in life.

So, if some deity didn’t create the cosmos for us, it would beg the question, what is our purpose? We as humans can’t agree upon a deity. Therefore, even if we could, it remains dubious that the deity did this all for us.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Calendar

https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1077158

There have been people prior to Sagan and Tyson who have pondered the question about the meaning of life. A half century ago, there was another answer. The haunting question is what’s it all about.

Therefore, it seems that our purpose in life is up to us to determine. The question, “What’s it all about, Alfie?” is up to each of us. Here are some of my suggestions for you to ponder.

1. I’ll take care of and love my dog, Ginger.

2. Find some mentors. Select several mentors to be your guideposts as you journey down your yellow brick road of life.

3. Be honest. Don’t bs people.

4. Determine who is family. The narrower your family members are the less meaning your life will be. The broader and more incisive your family the more meaningful you will find life.

5. Try to approximate the other person’s needs. Do what you can to assist them.

6. Dream dreams that never were and ask why not. Bobby Kennedy is the most important mentor in my life. I owe him a great deal.

7. Add more to life than what you take from it. It is in giving that we get.

8. Learn and never stop learning. Don’t assume, like Donald the Dumb, that you are really smart. In other words, don’t be the village idiot.

9. Address issues like sexism, racism, homophobia, and xenophobia. We are all born equal. Don’t destroy equality; fight for it.

10. Do as Albert Camus said, “Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”