If life is short, would we treasure time, and stop being such superficial political creatures? Would our culture on obedience, ranks and money change? Would we be less self-centered when faced with family and strangers? Would we spend less time in front of the television and game console? What would one do?
What if tomorrow we happen to be the less than 2% statistic? What regrets will one have? When life is cut short, we often lament that life shortchanged us. But, how often have we been shortchanging ourselves, and waste a lifetime away in the spirit of working for a better future?
Is there a purpose to life? Why is there a need for social organization? And why must such organizations be complex to the point where even adults will find confusing?
Why bring a child into this world when you know that the joy, wonder, imagination, pureness of thought will inevitably be corrupted by worldly needs, competition, pride, ambition and intolerance for differences? If a child does not grow up to be a cynic, does that mean he/she is blind, stupid, uncaring or brainwashed?
Nature doesn’t care about pricing, qualifications, pros-and-cons, or statistics. But human beings, especially those in data-driven societies, habitually make decisions based on numbers. Using one’s head is not a bad thing, but what happened to human instinct and spirituality? Must everything be treated as a number, price or grade?
Can this person help me, or is he just a waste of my already limited time? Are you statistically qualified to be my friend? Am I smelling the flowers because I really feel the beauty of creation in my soul, or because spiritual teachers say we should slow down and smell the flowers?
Why let others run our lives? Because we have no money? So what you possess a billion dollars and a position of power right now? How can we do a better job at leadership? Do we need leadership at all? To where do we desperately need to be led? Is Forrest Gump really an idiot? Is he really defenseless in the face of bullies, or has he lost out in life because of his mental retardation?
Is life really short? Is the material world all there is to living? Are the things we say and do, things we believe to be the real truth even if others don’t, making the world better? Is it the world that needs to get better, or ourselves that need to improve?