Tag: survival

Mere Survival Is Not the Goal

“Let us suppose,” ventured C. S. Lewis, “that nothing ever has existed or ever will exist except this meaningless play of atoms in space and time: that by a series of hundredth chances it has (regrettably) produced things like ourselves.” What “things” does he mean? “Conscious beings,” he continues, “who now know that their own consciousness is an accidental result of the whole meaningless process and is therefore itself meaningless, though to us (alas!) it feels significant.” That disturbing supposal… Read more »

Lewis: Mere Survival Is Not the Goal

One of the traits I see in C. S. Lewis, and what makes his writings so endearing—at least from my particular take on life—is the way he can critique a predominant belief in society at large, yet do so in a manner that is not merely some kind of self-righteous invective. He can skewer a prevailing untruth with winsome words that can make a person think seriously about the untruth’s inherent untruthfulness. In his essay, “On Living in an Atomic… Read more »