Back when I was a first year doctoral student in philosophy, I told my teacher that I wanted to write a paper on “trivial statements,” since I had noticed that they were so foundational and ubiquitous as to be not just “trivial” but also “profound.” Back then, having been brought up as a saintly, dogmatic Roman Catholic, I couldn’t yet stomach any whiff of paradox.

That was 40 years ago. I was still trying to figure it all out, as if it was possible to do so! As if I just tried hard enough, I would get to The One Big Truth that silences all further questioning.

In this video, we see that what might be the  world’s most searched question — “what is the meaning of life”— elicits three profound and seemingly trivial requirements. BTW: for the second requirement, “understanding,” I would add this caveat: we create/invent understanding via patterns we can’t help but look for. Not that any particular “understanding” adds up to The Big Kahuna!

Plus great visuals. LOL.

Via aim4truth.org