Pale Blue Dot...

Whenever we ponder “the meaning of life”, we frame the question in a way which presupposes that we would recognise the answer, and that it would dovetail neatly into the portfolio of beliefs and convictions we have already assembled. But, in our search for meaning and purpose, what kind of response would satisfy us? What particular choice of words would fulfil the brief? A single unambiguous instruction chiselled into a tablet of stone?
     We assume, too readily, that there must be one coherent, over-arching purpose to life, which would make sense of our existence and answer our most searching questions even before we’d asked them. But meaning isn’t something to discover, like a cache of buried treasure; it’s something to develop. Instead of asking “what is the meaning of life?” (without ever wondering why there should be just one), we might usefully follow the example of cosmologist Carl Sagan who, in his book, Pale Blue Dot, gave short shrift to the false consolations of faith. “The significance of our lives and our fragile planet is determined only by our own wisdom and courage. We are the custodians of life's meaning. We long for a parent to care for us, to forgive us our errors, to save us from our childish mistakes. But knowledge is preferable to ignorance. Better by far to embrace the hard truth than a reassuring fable. If we crave some cosmic purpose, then let us find ourselves a worthy goal”.