Meaning of Life (General)

by dhw, Thursday, November 26, 2015, 13:32 (3283 days ago)

A dear Swiss friend has sent me a wonderful article from the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, published almost a year ago, about the meaning of life. It is by Gottfried Schatz, an emeritus professor of biochemistry at the University of Basel. It's too long to translate and reproduce here, but it covers clearly and succinctly the history of our search for meaning right through from early religious beliefs to the latest scientific research into genetic complexities, and it expresses quite beautifully the sense of wonderment we all feel about the miracle of life. I think we have discussed most of this ourselves in the course of the last eight years, but towards the end is a short paragraph which I found very moving, no doubt because it echoes my own feelings so directly:-QUOTE: “Before the Big Bang there stands a question mark which defies science. Whoever sees a divine Creator in this question mark has answered the question for himself. For me, however, the question mark is enough. In all probability I would not be able to understand the answer - and if I could, science has taught me that every answer only throws up a new question. Science demands humility. This too is part of my meaning of life.”-I would only add that philosophy teaches us the same lesson and also demands humility.