3 ms·

Thank you for sharing this! I’ve wrestled with existential questions my whole life. This is one of the best explanations for our existence that I’ve seen. Si

Thank you for sharing this! I’ve wrestled with existential questions my whole life. This is one of the best explanations for our existence that I’ve seen. Simple, and meaningful. I also love that this explanation also gives you a framework to live by. Meaning and purpose are arbitrary, but that’s really the value in them. You choose to make your life valuable. Would you really want it any other way?

rendall 5y ago
So glad it helped! Before that course, existential despair was nearly constant, from 10 years old through my 20s, and for much the same reasons for me as for the article writer. What is this world, where adults talk about high-minded principles but then act reprehensibly in the shadows? What are principles even for, then? Why are we here? Why am I here? Anyone?
- rubicon33 5y ago
  Would you mind sharing that course? I’ve very interested in learning more.
  - rendall 5y ago
    It was 20 years ago, and the lecturer was a Vietnam Vet in his spry 60s, named Robert Milgram. I just looked at the faculty list and he is no longer there. It was a "Medieval English Literature" course that started with a long-assed tangent about the "Germanic peoples" and the Vikings, and all of that about Ragnarok and the Norse worldview was delivered by lecture over the course of several weeks. I haven't ever been able to verify my particular understanding of their worldview, but I understand that it changed quite a bit after Christianity got a foothold. All that about rebirth and renewal after Ragnarok was a later addition. Or, my lecturer could have been mistaken, but I doubt it. I wish I could be more helpful, but he did mention Tolkien as a Norse scholar quite a lot.
    - rubicon33 5y ago
      Fascinating stuff. I appreciate the threads to follow. I’ll see what I can dig up.

3 ms·

Thank you for sharing this! I’ve wrestled with existential questions my whole life. This is one of the best explanations for our existence that I’ve seen. Si

by rubicon33 5y ago

rendall 5y ago
So glad it helped! Before that course, existential despair was nearly constant, from 10 years old through my 20s, and for much the same reasons for me as for the article writer. What is this world, where adults talk about high-minded principles but then act reprehensibly in the shadows? What are principles even for, then? Why are we here? Why am I here? Anyone?
- rubicon33 5y ago
  Would you mind sharing that course? I’ve very interested in learning more.
  - rendall 5y ago
    It was 20 years ago, and the lecturer was a Vietnam Vet in his spry 60s, named Robert Milgram. I just looked at the faculty list and he is no longer there. It was a "Medieval English Literature" course that started with a long-assed tangent about the "Germanic peoples" and the Vikings, and all of that about Ragnarok and the Norse worldview was delivered by lecture over the course of several weeks. I haven't ever been able to verify my particular understanding of their worldview, but I understand that it changed quite a bit after Christianity got a foothold. All that about rebirth and renewal after Ragnarok was a later addition. Or, my lecturer could have been mistaken, but I doubt it. I wish I could be more helpful, but he did mention Tolkien as a Norse scholar quite a lot.
    - rubicon33 5y ago
      Fascinating stuff. I appreciate the threads to follow. I’ll see what I can dig up.