In Chapter 25 of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams makes fun of questions about the meaning of life: There are of course many problems connected with life, of which some of the most popular are Why are people born? Why do they die? Why do they want to spend so much of the intervening time wearing digital watches?
I’m reminded to an extent of Kafka’s short parable “On Parables”.
This ambiguity between “meaning” and “purpose” when talking about life and philosophy has been a frequent headache in conversation for me. People frequently have a sense that “meaning” refers to communication of some kind, and it makes talking about the “meaning of life” rather confusing. Out of curiosity, who are the “roughly correct” people you’re talking about with respect to the meaning of life?
I’m reminded to an extent of Kafka’s short parable “On Parables”.
This ambiguity between “meaning” and “purpose” when talking about life and philosophy has been a frequent headache in conversation for me. People frequently have a sense that “meaning” refers to communication of some kind, and it makes talking about the “meaning of life” rather confusing. Out of curiosity, who are the “roughly correct” people you’re talking about with respect to the meaning of life?