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The Meaning of Life demonstrates the power of Survival Psych. I have said on numerous occasions over the years that the subtitle, A Child’s Book of Existential Psychology is a joke. But like any good joke, it has a serious side.
When seeing the subtitle, many adults become frightened. They are not quite sure what existentialism is and they quickly want to know the age range of the target audience. The Meaning of Life looks like a children’s book and claims to be one, but the subtitle suggests that it is something else, something for adults. This strange joining of ideas in different media gives people the feeling of being out of balance. It is as if, by knowing the age range of the target audience, people will have a better idea of how to relate with the book, as if it will be less disturbing if they know in advance what category they can put it in. Many people are also frightened by the X-word because they don’t know what it means and think they should know. They are uneasy at the possibility that I may be poking fun at them by writing over their heads. (If this were true, it would be an expensive joke for me, since the book has been costly to produce.)
Unlike adults, kids don’t often find the title frightening. After all, even though kids don’t know what existentialism is, they don’t know a lot of things. So, they don’t know enough to be frightened by the subtitle. It simply is one more thing that a child may want to learn about later. |
Risking the possibility that the humor may be lost through explanation, the real joke is on those people who think their knowledge of existentialism separates them from the rest of us. I think that “those in the know” will be even more surprised to discover that, however complex the word existentialism is , the idea itself can be explained simply in words and pictures. Further, it may be a better learning tool if the ideas are presented in all their simplicity. How can anyone gain a better understanding of what Life can mean to us, if the discussion is reserved for those who use ten-dollar words? The joke is that one need not use expensive words to understand the concepts and, if looked at simply and with an open mind, one can easily see how the problems of existence challenge all of us equally. In my opinion, the careful consideration of a basic problem presented simply is far more useful to survival and self-understanding than a bunch of long words whose definitions no one can agree on.
It is because of its simplicity and its universality that I think of The Meaning of Life as being on the cutting edge of Survival Psych. How can you increase your chances of survival if you don’t know where you are and don’t know where you are going? The Meaning of Life has a look at this and other important problems of survival that intrude on our awareness as we grow up. It may not give you the answers you are looking for, but it should give you an idea of the dimensions of the problem so that you might better find your way in the world, such as it is. |
