Why?

I’ve just finished reviewing TIME’s 50 Best Inventions of 2009 and find myself asking once again, why? I admit to joining Victor Frankl’s search for meaning. While it may not actually matter in the final analysis, I can’t shake off the question of why I am here. More to the point, why are any of us here? Whether it be the evolutionist’s belief that we are the result of natural selection or the creationist’s contention that God just put us here, neither does a very satisfactory job of answering the fundamental question. From the dawn of human consciousness the purpose of our existence has been enigmatic, the debate sometimes being very public and other times very private. Had we been more serious about asking the question in the past, we might not have found ourselves confronted by climate change, escalating population, and nuclear annihilation. I’m all for seeking solutions to these global dilemmas, and pronto! But I’m not sure that the invention of a biotech Stradivarius is going to bring us any closer to answering the ultimate question.