Page 69: Zuckerman asks his interviewees, "Aren't contemporary Scandinavians vexed by the existential mysteries of life?" Jonas, quoted in the previous post, "The meaning of life, I think, is just to have a good life for myself and the people I care about. All this making the world a better place--I don't know. Because we as humanity really just screw it up so bad." Tina, Stockholm, 39, atheist, "But there is meaning everywhere...I mean, I think the very idea that there is a God up there telling us what to do and playing with us like pawns is absolutely horrible. It's another thing: I don't think people really need meaning. I think you work out your own meaning...And if you can't do that, you'd really better get yourself a better life [laughter]." Tyge, 62, Copenhagen, "[Life] has no special meaning. People try to find some special meaning. We are born, we live, and we die. Somebody has a good life, somebody has a bad life." What gives Tyge meaning personally? "First of all, my wife and my daughter--my family. My friends are dead, but my family is the most important thing." Maja, 28, Danish, "I'm not sure there is a meaning. There doesn't have to be really...It's just...something we're going through. I don't know why." How does it make Maja feel? "Um-m-m...in a way relief, because then...because then you don't have to think about it--has to be a meaning--it doesn't matter if there's no meaning about it." Lars, 43, Danish, "[Long pause]...I don't know, I think...the meaning is to be with other people...be nice to other people, nice to your family, have an interesting job, and I really have an interesting job, I think [he's a journalist]. But sometimes you can ask yourself, now you are here what are you going to do? Do something, you know, so that when we get to the end you can say I did something good for other people." Vibeke, 33, Copenhagen, "The meaning of life is living your life and having a good life, and you should not be waiting for something afterwards." Hjordis, 68, widow, Copenhagen, "There is no meaning." What keeps her living? "Good neighbors, friends, music, computer, everything--flowers, the garden."
Isak, 69, physician, agnostic, "I would say that it's been a pleasure to live. I mean my whole life, it's a long time, I had a lot of very pleasant feelings and experiences and a lot of ...yes, of course, you can be sad and be in bad situations and some people even take their life because they think that the life is not worth living. But in principle, the life is a gift to everybody and it's nice to have it. You don't need to have a sort of continuation of it, and I also have difficulties understanding what would then be the next life? If after this life, what would happen and how would that be? If everybody that had lived on the earth suffers and also this question of eternal life. I mean, eternal life is really something the worst that would happen to everybody. They never have the possibility to die, I mean for all time to be living. That is horrible."
Leif, 75, Gothenburg, "I don't think--I don't know if there's any meaning in life. I enjoy life. I enjoy making the things I do. I made a dictionary--English-Swedish-Yiddish--a half a year ago. It's very good, if I do say so myself. And I work as a publisher still...my wife, 16 years ago she got a stroke and she was a very weak person, but when my wife went ill, then I got stronger, in a way--so I got some strength--I don't know from where. I even wrote a book--I had a diary for the first year of when my wife was ill. So I didn't get depressed. And I even published it and it was a success." (I'm adding a big 'sic' to all of these direct quotations of non-native English speakers.)
Again, these responses were typical for his interviews. Many answers were very short--they just didn't think about the meaning of life.
Zuckerman brings up again the common assertion that a deep desire for meaning in life is a human universal. This is not the case. And what does this say about the need for religion? People want traditions sure. Traditions and ceremonies. But belief in a personal god and an afterlife? Also, Zuckerman points out that in Scandinavia, apathy towards the meaning of life doesn't breed deep apathy or indifference about the life they live. "Danish and Swedish culture is not characterized by widespread nihilism."
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