Let me try something controversial for a change

Recently I have been talking about more serious issues. It has been quite a wake-up call how readers can often be quite nit-picking and very ready to point out where one might have gone wrong. I truly appreciate feed-back, but it does make one hesitate to write again. I mean, who wants to be wrong?

On the other hand, an intelligent discourse can be quite interesting and welcome in the sometimes rather dumbing down news environment. And, as with many hands make light work, loads of brains and a varied knowledge base can expand a topic considerably and that is really enjoyable.

As much as I like to research and be fairly logical in my writing, I really enjoy writing a blog because I can air my opinions without having to join a debating society. With other words there is generally a fairly generous sprinkling of personal and somewhat emotional content.

What this last year of blogging has done, though, has made me appreciate the lot of the journalist more. It would seem that as a journalist, there should be a course during one’s training on how to develop a very thick skin.

So for once, I am going to abandon all pretence at logic or rational thought. Which means of course that there will be a larger number of readers who will want to point out the errors of my ways. However, as there is no way to really prove the point, we can all either be wrong or right. So, water off a duck’s back, as they say.

Here it is then. What if the reason for living is just to live and there is no other reason. We decide to come onto the earth to experience life for life’s sake. In other words, we do not take on a human life to be wealthy or poor, to be famous or infamous. Or even to win a Nobel prize. We just come to check it out. Observe the show. Participate if we should feel like it.

If we come onto planet Earth for the sole purpose of experiencing a life, then there would be no right or wrong. There would be no expectations we would have to work towards. We would not have to benchmark ourselves against successful people. We would not need to be successful because the concept would not make any sense to somebody who is only there to experience life.

Formal religion would have a problem surviving against that world view. There would be no obligation to have to believe in a deity. One would not need to abide by any religions’ laws. The concept of heaven and hell could not survive as our purpose would not be to lead a religious life. Inherited sins wouldn’t exist either. Not that it ever made a huge amount of sense to me in any case. But some people believe in it, so fair enough.

So why would anybody want to win a Nobel prize then? For the fun of it? Maybe to see what it feels like to have that kind of honour bestowed upon one. Or for instance, why would one want to go through the kind of relentless agony in order to win the right to sit in the Oval Office at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, as Obama and Clinton are going through at the moment. Maybe to be able to use Air Force One …?

So if there is no meaning to life, why even bother? Good question. What about the philosophers, prophets and great thinkers. They could have been on the wrong page. Or maybe they were just entertaining themselves, wondering what it felt like to voice a controversial opinion. Well let’s see what other people have to say about this opinion.