I have always had a clear purpose in life: to make the world a better place. That goal has guided my efforts and I am satisfied with the effectiveness of those efforts. However, of late a question has arisen that raises doubts as to my purpose: will all my work be nullified by the collapse of civilization? I have grown increasingly convinced that humanity’s failure to make adequate efforts to cope with climate change proves its inability to cope with the ever more difficult problems posed by the advance of technology. Civilization is doomed to destroy itself in the near future. My best estimate for the collapse is sometime in the 2050s, but I have always been overly optimistic. For example, I insisted that Mr. Trump could not possibly win the 2016 election; then I made the same insistence in 2024. I’m just a Pollyanna.
So if civilization will collapse soon, what is the point of contributing to humanity’s betterment? It’s all going to fall apart anyway, so my efforts to contribute to civilization will be of no avail. Is my purpose in life a waste of time?
Another thought occurred to me. We have a little dog named Roxy. She’s old; we took her in when she was 13 years old. But she’s such a sweetie, and she’s full of fun. I think she’s the happiest dog we have ever known. The other day, whilst watching Kathy play “glove game” (tug-of-war with Roxy for a woolen glove), it struck me that we were creating happiness. Yes, Roxy will die in a year or two, but for the moment, our efforts make her happy.
Could this be a better purpose to my life? Should I abandon the long game of bettering humanity with my ideas, and instead focus on simply creating happiness in the moment? It greatly saddens me that I won’t be able to make my best contribution to the world, but I must be realistic. Better to contribute what I can than to aim for a meaningless goal.