H. K.

Katz’s Korner - The Meaning of Live

      Having reached those golden years and having done so much living, I have often wondered about the meaning of life.  Twenty years ago there was a movie, “City Slickers” with Billy Crystal as Mitch Robbins and Jack Palance as Curly.  I never forgot that movie because it had one significant scene.  Mitch was city slicker who had gone with his friends to this dude ranch in which they go on a cattle drive on which Curly is the foreman.   On the drive, one of the cattle gives birth to a calf and Mitch, with Curly’s encouragement, assists in the delivery.  It gets Mitch wondering about life and its meaning.  The next day, Mitch asked Curly, what is the meaning to life?  Curly raises one finger, which perplexes Mitch even more.  He questions him on what he meant by the one finger.  Curly responded by saying, “It’s the one thing you make of it (Life).”
      The twentieth century has been the most progressive century in the history of man.  It has produced some of the greatest tools to make life easier for humankind and, such as the electric light bulbs, automobiles, telephones, cellphones, as well as, the computer, the Internet, and social networks.   It has improved on our knowledge of medicine, such that many incurable diseases are now being cured, heart operations are now possible, and organ transplant is a reality.  It has also produced the most destructive weapons, such as vastly destructive weaponry and the atomic bomb.  With all that, it has moved knowledge forward at an expediential rate.  Our understanding of our universe has progressed beyond our wildest dreams.  Einstein theory has supplanted Newton concept of the universe.   Rocketry has put man on the moon, established a man-station in space, put rovers on the surface of Mars, and sent rocket probes into outer space.   Every day, more and more planets are discovered that could possibly contain life.  As we explore outer space, we also have gain greater knowledge about living matter and, in particular, human beings.  Darwin has opened the door to understanding the evolutionary process that has produced us humans.  We have greater knowledge of our brain and how those little neurons have given us the capacity to be the humans that we are.

      Is it any wonder that we should broach the question of the meaning of life?  My quest has led me to the realization that there is no particular meaning to life.  Some think that life means loving one person and raising a family, for other it is pursuing a career, others it means making lots of money, and for others it means doing good deeds, or being creative, or getting educated, and on and on.  Some people consider life to be a challenge; others find it to be a drag.  There may be more than one meaning that each of us give to life, but Curly was right, it’s what you make of it.   That’s what counts.