The Omega Point
Last night Peter posed a question to us around the table. “Given that no one chooses to exist, to be born into this world, –What obligates us to choose to be helpful, to act kindly toward others?” That question always touches something deep within me. Something more basic and indescribable than my words awakens whenever I hear that question posed in some form. Is not this the end point question, “Why be moral?” Could this be the counterpoint to the alpha question, the beginning point question, “Why is there anything, instead of nothing?” Perhaps these questions can only be answered personally, as a response of personal commitment, unique to the life journey that each has taken. I cannot answer for you, nor you for me. Life interrogates each of us, and we have to answer.
I offer this superb poem as a meditation on Peter’s question…….
KNOWLEDGE
Even when you know what people are capable of,
even when you pride yourself on knowing,
on not evading history, or the news,
or any of the quotidian, minor, but still endlessly apparent
and relevant examples of human cruelty—even now
there are times it strikes you anew, as though
you’d spend your whole life believing that humanity
was fundamentally good, as though you’d never thought,
like Schopenhauer, that it was all blind, impersonal will,
never chanted perversely, almost gleefully,
the clear-sighted adjectives learned from Hobbes—
solitary, poor, nasty, brutal, and short—
even now you’re sometimes stunned to hear
of some terrible act that sends you reeling off, too overwhelmed
even to weep, and then you realize that your innocence
which you had thought no longer existed,
did, in fact, exist—-that somewhere underneath your cynicism
you still held out hope. But that hope had been shattered now,
irreparably, or so it seems, and you have to go on, afraid
that there is more to know, that one day you will know it.
By Kim Addonizio, taken from What is this thing called love
4 thoughts on “The Omega Point”
Thanks Jerry. In your blog you mentioned the alpha, I haven’t thought about it, because my focus is on my being here for whatever or no reason none of it my doing.
I struggled with my question of last night for decades.
I have arrived at the following which I did not get into last night.
I am not here because of my own choosing, but as long as I am here I will choose how to live my life.
Not always easy to practice due to societal and other pressures
My use of the term alpha was to suggest that the first question that comes to philosophical thinking is wonderment at the vast and varied reality of which one is a part. That leads to a more personal question: What am I to do with the one life that I have? Like you I’ve wrestled with the matter for years. It is as if I was chosen to be on the team, to play the game of life. I “woke up” and found that I was on the playing field! I chose to play with as much heart and joy as I can manage. I feel this is what I owe to my team mates.
I can not say for sure if I asked or did not ask to originally be here, but I certainly ask to be here now and that I am, I will use my time to express my thanks by trying to live up to my potential and help others, if they are open to it, to also do so. Or. at least try. Because it is not about me, but about utilizing the gift of life to make life better to others who also receive the gift. Plus, cause and effect proves giving is more enjoyable than receiving. So, In giving, I express my thanks for the gift. And if I miss the mark, all the more reason to try more effectively.
That’s my personal view…
Jeff, I like your emphasis on the present, your affirmation of life and of others. Great comments.