What are People For

Lauren Dodds
What are People For?

In a world full of confusion, hate, loneliness and love, it would appear that people would be content to some extent. This is true in a sense, yet millions wander through their lives without a clue as to what truly makes them happy or as to what gives them any sense of satisfaction. It is only known, to very few, the true meaning of life or the purpose of our waking and breathing in such a beautiful world. In Tuesdays with Morrie, Morrie Schwartz taught Mitch Albom that
So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning (Albom 43).
Everyone goes through the motions, but few actually enjoy the simple principles on which satisfaction is based upon. Devotion to family, hard, purposeful work, and a true sense of who you are, are the few things that people strive for and make up their very being.

Over half a century ago, “our hunter-gatherer ancestors inhibited a very different world from ours, a meaning saturated world where every plant and animal was an actor the way people are actors, where rocks and mountains and canyons and rivers could speak. We look at that same world and see either silent landscape or pile of resources; either it has gone mute, or our hearing is nowhere near as sharp (McKibben 44).
From the very beginning, life had meaning. All around us we saw the beauty and the importance of each small piece of the earth. Every part of the animals we hunted and killed were used and implemented and our bloodied hands made us appreciate the long hours and days we spent on the frozen tundra. In the centuries to come technology changed the satisfaction we obtained by isolating us from human warmth. Called “disenchantment” of the world, this idea weakened our society in its stronghold on human worth. No longer were small communities held together through visiting and actual human contact. Radio channels, NBC, and CBS arrived in the ‘50s followed shortly by a near total loss of closeness in the 1960s when divorce massively impacted the world (McKibben 45). The idea of divorce now hovered dangerously over every marriage. The people choose this, but in a sense it simply came upon them swiftly with no awareness of how to stop it. Meaning, worth and legitimacy were bartered for individualism and freedom over ones’ life. Instead of delving deeper into a more complex, fulfilling and rewarding train of thought we reducing our once important lives to habitual appetites for more products, superficial feelings and a false sense of worth. In House of the Seven Gables a lonely, downtrodden and habitual woman named Hepzibah fashions her failing life around nothing. Waking, breathing, possibly eating and repeating this ridiculous cycle is what brings about a feeling of failure, and a deadening of the senses. For Hepzibah, taking care of newly freed brother, Clifford, was the little break from routine that she needed to make any sense in life. Nurturing and caring, the old lady rose from unworthiness to a newfound student to the joys that life could bring. It was not products, money or consuming more that changed her mind set. It was the mere fact that she was needed, and had purpose that brought her satisfaction and mental gain.

Consumption has weight, it has a rate at which we act it out, yet it lacks any real substance. At the end of our lives it has the mass of a whale but the density of thin air; just as at the end of our generation we are promised a new beginning for our offspring. The idea that scientists shall free them from the final knot that ties them to us is the very last tether they have to any meaning at all. Genetics will be changed, enhanced, and most importantly all categorized. Our children can be strong, smart and capable of anything, but only through a total loss of that final tie. Our last chance at having any meaning in our lives will be torn from us or you could say inserted into our body. Happy and content from life, or from increased neurotransmitters such as serotonin or dopamine that were inserted into us as a growth of cells? We will question and worry about this concept and it could trouble us for the rest of our lives. This chain of events is fairly capable of occurring and the losses it would cause would be catastrophic. Would we even exist as humans in reality, or would we simply exist as the products we once consumed back in a more significant life?

It is essential for a person to discover a sense of self being, which can be found through participation in something that has meaning to that individual. For McKibben, meaning came from running marathons. After 3.3 hours and 26.2 miles he said “I had a clearer sense of myself, of my power and my frailty” (2). It’s the overcoming challenges, being pushed to the limits, against all odds feelings that show a person the essence of one’s true self. To genetically engineer an individual so that he could run with complete ease would take away from this, for he would not know if it’s truly him or his genetically enhanced self that has allowed him to complete the feat (McKibben 6). It’s important for a person to make “her own authentic context [. . .] that brings her life to life” (McKibben 48). Whether it is in running, dance, music or baking, parents should not construct this context for their child; it should be left completely up to the individual. Csikszentmihalyi spoke of a state of “flow” that’s between boredom and anxiety, where a person is at the perfect level of enjoyment and experiences a self-awareness from discovering potential.
Many people think that their jobs are what give them meaning in life, but this is not always the case. A grocery market shelf stocker probably won’t find too much meaning in his job but even those who strive for fortune and status can come up short when it comes to finding meaning. Mitch Albom had a well paying job as a journalist reporting on celebrities and was at a state of complete inadequacy. These people are simply going through the motions, and acting out a life not worth living. However, if robots and machines were to replace human labor, leaving people to a life of retirement, people would feel bored and empty. People need jobs to provide order but it’s essential to find a job that will feel purposeful and provide happiness. Hepzibah was not happy in retirement. Opening a cent shop gave her a simple meaning in life and connected her with the world. This may not seem like much but in the state of having a meaningful life, necessities are found through enjoying what you do and doing what you enjoy to the point of recognizing you’ve reached a point of pureness. When life throws you a blank canvas and you make art with that blank canvas instead of stowing it away for another day, a being of happiness is discovered.

From the likes of Hepizibah, McKibben, and the “flowing” Csikszentmihalyi, a person reading this can conclude that self-satisfaction is not a goal. It’s not a product of anything. It’s a mental, physical, and spiritual state that few reach in their generations of living. It cannot and will not be scientifically explained. A balance between work, sweat, blood, tears and the ability to come to terms with existing as the simple beings that we are are two of the most important statuses we must obtain. It is life, and it is raw, but as Morrie Schwartz instructs every one of us to do, we must take the time to restore meaning to our lives, rekindle loving relationships and create our own culture. We must do this with love and an unfailing grasp on our own emotions and our souls within.