Hamid A. Campbell
Dr. Adam Johns
ENGCMP 0200
02.17.2009
Purpose
The luckiest people in the world are those who are aware of their respective individual purposes and possess the knowledge and resources to fulfill these purposes. Purpose is one of the strongest sources of motivation, and its fulfillment is the ultimate source of satisfaction. When one understands their life’s purpose and actively pursues it, each day is more than “just any other day.” Each day holds new experiences, new knowledge to attain, and new reasons to be alive. I would imagine that the hardest thing in the world would be to look back on one’s life at an old age and not have an answer to the question “what purpose did I serve?” Does this concept of “purpose,” then, apply to everyone? And if not every person serves a purpose, then exactly what collective purpose do we all serve?
The most successful sitcom in television history, and one of my favorite programs of all time, is famously a self-proclaimed show about “nothing.” Seinfeld follows a group of four friends who live in New York City, a city full of power and purpose. However, Jerry Seinfeld and his friends lead meaningless, powerless, and even purposeless lives. While the show is one of the funniest I have ever seen, the ease with which I (and apparently hundreds of millions of other Seinfeld fans) can relate to the characters and their context-deficient existences is quite scary. Other television shows, movies, and even books contain characters who consistently achieve absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, the average person can watch and read about these characters and quickly identify with them, seeing themselves impersonated in the purposeless characters. The danger lies in the fact that the world that we live in has “[left] us vulnerable to meaninglessness,” as Bill McKibben states in Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age (McKibben, 2003). Again, while there are those who have found purpose in life, I would be interested in knowing the percentage of people who wake up every day and go to work only to return home feeling that they had not accomplished a thing, as if they had served no purpose. How many people truly lead meaningless lives? Because life can have no meaning if it has no purpose, can it?
Maybe human life has no purpose, and thus no meaning. It seems so straightforward, yet the theories that have been provided to explain the reason for human existence are countless. I, however, am inclined to answer the question with even more questions. Maybe there is more than one answer, more than one purpose that humans are to fulfill. I am quite certain that there exists an ultimate truth out there somewhere, and I am also certain that we, as humans, simply just cannot have it in its entirety, nor would we be capable of handling it in its entirety. The truth, as we all know, can sometimes be quite hurtful and unpleasant. Imagine that some mad scientist in a laboratory in Germany discovers the answer and finds that the purpose of human life is one that we are presently incapable of fulfilling, such as to permanently stop all of the planets in the solar system from rotating around the sun. Or maybe he discovers that our purpose is one that we are simply not willing to fulfill, such as to peacefully coexist and crossbreed with extraterrestrial life. What will we then do? If we had the absolute truth and found it to be disagreeable, how would we spend our time? Would life go on as usual (purposelessly), or would we just suck it up and all get on a shuttle to another galaxy to begin our half-human/half-alien families? Although these examples are quite farfetched and extremely improbable, it seems that answers to such questions as “what is the purpose of human life” would lead only to further problems, not solutions.
As an aspiring medical scientist, my views on the role of human life in the universe are biased in favor of the explanation that science provides. To most scientists, including myself, Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory is the most reasonable explanation for the existence of humans. We simply evolved from other hominids and are a result of genetic mutations and “natural selection.” Homo sapiens will cease to exist, just as nearly every other species that has ever existed on earth has. In fact, Lee Silver, a professor of microbiology at Princeton University, reveals in Challenging Nature: The Clash Between Biotechnology and Spirituality that Homo sapiens will be extinguished at some point “in the next 200,000 to 8 million years (Silver, 2006).” Therefore, humans have no higher purpose than to reproduce and evolve into further, more stable, stronger, better species. This purpose requires no extraordinary action on our part (since individuals do not self-evolve, but rather entire species), and everyone who reproduces participates in the evolutionary process.
Unlike other scientists, however, I do believe that individuals have unique purposes. For example, I have wanted to be a doctor for as long as my memory serves me. I vividly recall being seven years old at family gatherings ambitiously telling my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins how I was going to cure cancer and make everyone live until they were a hundred years old. Over a decade of life and education later, this desire to cure disease and alleviate human suffering still exists. Even if I never cure cancer (or ensure that every human will celebrate their centennial), I realize and understand that I am lucky enough to know what my purpose is early enough to do something about it and to know the work that I will spend my life performing. Hopefully I will never look back and have to wonder whether I had made a difference.
Works Cited
McKibben, B. (2003). Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age. New York: Times Books.
Silver, L. M. (2006). Challenging Nature: The Clash Between Biotechnology and Spirituality. New York: HarperCollins Publishing.
Dr. Adam Johns
ENGCMP 0200
02.17.2009
Purpose
The luckiest people in the world are those who are aware of their respective individual purposes and possess the knowledge and resources to fulfill these purposes. Purpose is one of the strongest sources of motivation, and its fulfillment is the ultimate source of satisfaction. When one understands their life’s purpose and actively pursues it, each day is more than “just any other day.” Each day holds new experiences, new knowledge to attain, and new reasons to be alive. I would imagine that the hardest thing in the world would be to look back on one’s life at an old age and not have an answer to the question “what purpose did I serve?” Does this concept of “purpose,” then, apply to everyone? And if not every person serves a purpose, then exactly what collective purpose do we all serve?
The most successful sitcom in television history, and one of my favorite programs of all time, is famously a self-proclaimed show about “nothing.” Seinfeld follows a group of four friends who live in New York City, a city full of power and purpose. However, Jerry Seinfeld and his friends lead meaningless, powerless, and even purposeless lives. While the show is one of the funniest I have ever seen, the ease with which I (and apparently hundreds of millions of other Seinfeld fans) can relate to the characters and their context-deficient existences is quite scary. Other television shows, movies, and even books contain characters who consistently achieve absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, the average person can watch and read about these characters and quickly identify with them, seeing themselves impersonated in the purposeless characters. The danger lies in the fact that the world that we live in has “[left] us vulnerable to meaninglessness,” as Bill McKibben states in Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age (McKibben, 2003). Again, while there are those who have found purpose in life, I would be interested in knowing the percentage of people who wake up every day and go to work only to return home feeling that they had not accomplished a thing, as if they had served no purpose. How many people truly lead meaningless lives? Because life can have no meaning if it has no purpose, can it?
Maybe human life has no purpose, and thus no meaning. It seems so straightforward, yet the theories that have been provided to explain the reason for human existence are countless. I, however, am inclined to answer the question with even more questions. Maybe there is more than one answer, more than one purpose that humans are to fulfill. I am quite certain that there exists an ultimate truth out there somewhere, and I am also certain that we, as humans, simply just cannot have it in its entirety, nor would we be capable of handling it in its entirety. The truth, as we all know, can sometimes be quite hurtful and unpleasant. Imagine that some mad scientist in a laboratory in Germany discovers the answer and finds that the purpose of human life is one that we are presently incapable of fulfilling, such as to permanently stop all of the planets in the solar system from rotating around the sun. Or maybe he discovers that our purpose is one that we are simply not willing to fulfill, such as to peacefully coexist and crossbreed with extraterrestrial life. What will we then do? If we had the absolute truth and found it to be disagreeable, how would we spend our time? Would life go on as usual (purposelessly), or would we just suck it up and all get on a shuttle to another galaxy to begin our half-human/half-alien families? Although these examples are quite farfetched and extremely improbable, it seems that answers to such questions as “what is the purpose of human life” would lead only to further problems, not solutions.
As an aspiring medical scientist, my views on the role of human life in the universe are biased in favor of the explanation that science provides. To most scientists, including myself, Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory is the most reasonable explanation for the existence of humans. We simply evolved from other hominids and are a result of genetic mutations and “natural selection.” Homo sapiens will cease to exist, just as nearly every other species that has ever existed on earth has. In fact, Lee Silver, a professor of microbiology at Princeton University, reveals in Challenging Nature: The Clash Between Biotechnology and Spirituality that Homo sapiens will be extinguished at some point “in the next 200,000 to 8 million years (Silver, 2006).” Therefore, humans have no higher purpose than to reproduce and evolve into further, more stable, stronger, better species. This purpose requires no extraordinary action on our part (since individuals do not self-evolve, but rather entire species), and everyone who reproduces participates in the evolutionary process.
Unlike other scientists, however, I do believe that individuals have unique purposes. For example, I have wanted to be a doctor for as long as my memory serves me. I vividly recall being seven years old at family gatherings ambitiously telling my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins how I was going to cure cancer and make everyone live until they were a hundred years old. Over a decade of life and education later, this desire to cure disease and alleviate human suffering still exists. Even if I never cure cancer (or ensure that every human will celebrate their centennial), I realize and understand that I am lucky enough to know what my purpose is early enough to do something about it and to know the work that I will spend my life performing. Hopefully I will never look back and have to wonder whether I had made a difference.
Works Cited
McKibben, B. (2003). Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age. New York: Times Books.
Silver, L. M. (2006). Challenging Nature: The Clash Between Biotechnology and Spirituality. New York: HarperCollins Publishing.
3 comments:
Anthony,
This paper was very good, but I feel like you don't provide a clear answer to the question that was posed.
You don't really make it clear that you believe each individual has a unique purpose until the last paragraph.
The assignment also says that you are trying to convince the reader that what you believe people are for is correct. If you think that each individual has a unique purpose you should reinforce that throughout the paper.
Paragraph two seems to be arguing that there is no purpose of life when you write sentences like, "Unfortunately, the average person... seeing themselves impersonated in the purposeless characters."
In paragraph three you begin by questioning if there is a purpose of life and when you do begin to explain that there is a meaning of human life, your argument seemed a little shaky to me. Mostly because there if a lot of uncertainty and maybes. Remember that you are trying to convince the reader that you are right.
I like how you tie in your personal life and you say that you are lucky to know your purpose. I just wonder if you believe the only purpose that you were born was end human suffering and disease. Or could there be other purposes that you either don't recognize or have not reached yet?
I hope this helps. Good luck
Hamid A. Campbell
Dr. Adam Johns
ENGCMP 0200
02.23.2009
Purpose
The luckiest people in the world are those who are aware of their respective individual purposes and possess the necessary knowledge and resources to fulfill these purposes. Purpose is one of the strongest sources of motivation, and its fulfillment is the ultimate source of satisfaction. When one understands their life’s purpose and actively pursues it, each day is more than “just any other day.” Each day holds new experiences, new knowledge to attain, and new reasons to be alive. I would imagine that the hardest thing in the world would be to look back on one’s life at an old age and not have an answer to the question “what purpose did I serve?” Does this concept of “purpose,” then, apply to everyone? And if not every person serves a purpose, then exactly what collective purpose do we all serve?
The most successful sitcom in television history, and one of my favorite programs of all time, is famously a self-proclaimed show about “nothing.” Seinfeld follows a group of four friends who live in New York City, a city full of power and purpose. However, Jerry Seinfeld and his friends lead meaningless, powerless, and even purposeless lives. While the show is one of the funniest I have ever seen, the ease with which hundreds of millions of Seinfeld fans can relate to the characters and their context-deficient existences is quite scary. Other television shows, movies, and even books contain characters who consistently achieve absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, the average person can watch and read about these characters and quickly identify with them, seeing themselves impersonated in the purposeless characters. The danger lies in the fact that the world that we live in has “[left] us vulnerable to meaninglessness,” as Bill McKibben states in Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age (McKibben, 2003). Again, while there are those who have found purpose in life, I would be interested in knowing the percentage of people who wake up every day and go to work only to return home feeling that they had not accomplished a thing, as if they had served no purpose. How many people truly lead meaningless lives? Because life can have no meaning if it has no purpose, can it?
Maybe human life has no purpose, and thus no meaning. It seems so straightforward, yet the theories that have been provided to explain the reason for human existence are countless. The answers to questions such as these require a body of knowledge that humans simply do not possess, knowledge that we will likely never attain. Maybe there is more than one answer, more than one purpose that humans are to fulfill. I am quite certain that there exists some ultimate truth out there somewhere, and I am also certain that we, as humans, simply just cannot have it in its entirety, nor would we be capable of handling it in its entirety. The truth, as we all know, can sometimes be quite hurtful and unpleasant. Imagine that some mad scientist in a laboratory in Germany discovers the answer and finds that the purpose of human life is one that we are presently incapable of fulfilling, such as to permanently stop all of the planets in the solar system from rotating around the sun. Or maybe he discovers that our purpose is one that we are simply not willing to fulfill, such as to peacefully coexist and crossbreed with extraterrestrial life. What will we then do? If we had the absolute truth and found it to be disagreeable, how would we spend our time? Would life go on as usual (purposelessly), or would we just suck it up and all get on a shuttle to another galaxy to begin our half-human/half-alien families? Although these examples are quite farfetched and extremely improbable, it seems that answers to such questions as “what is the purpose of human life” would lead only to further problems, not solutions.
As an aspiring medical scientist, my views on the role of human life in the universe are biased in favor of the explanation that science provides. To most scientists, including myself, Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory is the most reasonable explanation for the existence of humans. We simply evolved from other hominids and are a result of genetic mutations and “natural selection.” Homo sapiens will cease to exist, just as nearly every other species that has ever existed on earth has. In fact, Lee Silver, a professor of microbiology at Princeton University, reveals in Challenging Nature: The Clash Between Biotechnology and Spirituality that Homo sapiens will be extinguished at some point “in the next 200,000 to 8 million years (Silver, 2006).” Therefore, I personally believe that the role that humans play in the universe is merely evolutionary. We, as a species, have no higher purpose than to reproduce and evolve into further, more stable, stronger, better species. This purpose requires no extraordinary action on our part (since individuals do not self-evolve, but rather entire species), and everyone who reproduces participates in the evolutionary process, essentially knocking out two birds with one stone.
As stated earlier, however, I do believe that certain (not all) individuals have unique purposes, or life “callings.” For example, I have wanted to be a doctor for as long as my memory serves me. I vividly recall being seven years old at family gatherings ambitiously telling my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins how I was going to cure cancer and make everyone live until they were a hundred years old. Over a decade of life and education later, this desire to cure disease and alleviate human suffering still exists. Even if I never cure cancer (or ensure that every human will celebrate their centennial), I realize and understand that I am lucky enough to know what my purpose is early enough to do something about it and to know the work that I will spend my life performing. Hopefully I will never look back and have to wonder whether I had made a difference.
Works Cited
McKibben, B. (2003). Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age. New York: Times Books.
Silver, L. M. (2006). Challenging Nature: The Clash Between Biotechnology and Spirituality. New York: HarperCollins Publishing.
Evan - another good, detailed response. You're on a roll.
Anthony - I loved your opening. Arguably it's a little on the abstract side, but I liked it a lot anyway.
Your Seinfeld paragraph is good, too. But I feel like you have two introductions: that is, you have two nice, provocative paragraphs, but I'm not at all sure where you're going with either one. You probably should have picked one.
Honestly, your third paragraph seems like yet another introductory paragraph to me - only this one is less interesting and provocative than the first two.
The paragraph on Darwin, etc., is a bit of a step forward, although one could also argue that it, too, would serve as an introduction to a longer paper. At least you begin to define your own view here.
The final paragraph is a fundamentally new topic. As Evan hints, it seems like your real focus, and while it relates to your other paragraphs in various ways, it in no way is a conclusion based on the argument which these other paragraphs constitute. What is a calling? How do we define or discover it? Is it a psychological condition, to be explained biologically? Is a calling a good thing or a bad thing? Is it a social or physiological phenomenon? I could fill paragraphs with questions like these.
Short version: lots of provocative material, but no essay. Not really.
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