Essay question leads to serious ponderings on 'life worth living'

I recently saw a poster advertising $1,000 for the best answer in 1,000 words or less to the question, "What is the life worth living?" At first, this might seem like one of those really abstract questions on which Immanuel Kant wrote thousands of pages; and maybe it is. But the question is a lot more pragmatic than Kant may make it out to be. In fact, upon further inspection, the question is unavoidable whether we choose to write it down in 1,000 words or not. We implicitly answer this question every day in every action we do or don't do, every word we say and every thought we think. By playing Sega NHL '97 for an hour before dinner, you are saying that you answer to the life worth living question includes video games.

I'm not here to preach a specific recipe of what is included in the life worth living. I don't think it is just a matter of doing your engineering problem sets on time, not eating frozen yogurt, running to East Campus and back every day or any other regimen of wholesome activities.

The question then becomes, "How do we approach such an imposing question?" Breaking this phrase down into its separate words might offer a good start. The word "life" means whatever you are going to do must be done while you are alive, which begs the question of where life begins and ends. Is there an after life? Are we reincarnated? While these beliefs can be debated, most people would agree that the 70 or so years the average person has on this planet are at least crucially important for what's to come if not the sum total of existence. Thus, one thing we know for sure is that we've got just a few years with which to work, and it is imperative that we don't screw up.

The next word, "worth," indicates that a value system is involved. Everything is not relative and equal. Some things are worth doing and some things aren't. If we had an eternity to puzzle over this perplexing question of the best life, maybe we could try out every fantastic idea and hold every outlandish belief.

But the fact is, as we just mentioned, we can only be sure we have one life, so decisions must be made; ideas, people, actions and beliefs must be deemed better or worse. Hidden behind the need to make decisions is the need for a set of criteria for making decisions, namely our values. This is the crux of the whole life worth living: What are my values? And what are the best or true values? Again, I have no pithy answer to this question, but certain values, such as masochism can be tossed out right away, though others may need to be tested.

This idea of testing out beliefs and values brings us to the next word, "living." Notice the question isn't, "What is the life worth thinking about?" Nor is it "what is the life worth writing about?" The word "living" means action. Living includes everything we do, think, say and feel. Though the question at hand may be philosophical, its answer need not be abstract. Everyone has a life philosophy by which he or she lives, consciously or unconsciously. The people we admire are those who stick by their beliefs, those who walk the walk. Is there any fate worse than being a hypocrite? Thus "living" is the word that connects the speculation of values and beliefs to the everyday concerns of daily life.

With all this said about a single question, I have yet to give an answer. This is mostly because I don't have the answer. Experience tells me that the particulars of the life worth living are going to vary from person to person, even among individuals who share similar values. Any generalities I could make would be the kind of things your mother has already told you hundreds of times: Exercise your body and mind, be kind, be honest and work hard. The question not only exists, but is paramount and unavoidable. Denying the importance of this question only shows that you feel that not thinking is the best way to live (it may be so, but I doubt it). since the question is mandatory, you might as well take a bit of time out of your hectic life at the University, and think about the 1,000 words you would put down.

James Todd is a Trinity senior.