Why are we here? You would be hard pressed to find a human being on this planet who has not asked him or herself this question at some point in life. In fact, most people have probably taken it one step further and actually given serious thought to this question. Some even say that this is the most profound question of our existence. Why is it, then, that when you stroll into a McDonalds, or ride the bus downtown, that you do not hear the majority of the people around you fervently discussing this quintessential, most important, question of our lives? In response one might hear various arbitrary, un-thoughtful excuses like, "It doesn't matter,"" or, "There is no answer,"" but, it really boils down to the fact that it is easier for a person not to worry about that "highfalutin crap."" .
This attitude of disregard does not only apply to such monumental questions as "Why are we here,"" but also to any query which doesn't seem to have a "scientific- or rationally derived answer: What is beauty? What is the best music? What makes something wrong? I could not answer these questions definitively, and no one in McDonalds could either. You also wouldn't be able to find these answers in a book. This open-endedness distresses people. No one likes to be stumped, which is also the reason why so many people try to ascribe pre-packaged, conventional answers to questions that require far more thought and insight than a simple, "ready-made thought from which thinking has been evaporated,"" as Gerd B. Achenbach describes in his essay, Orphic Underworld Philosophy. Gerd goes on to explain two reasons for which he believes are the causes of this tendency in humans. The first is the insight, which seemingly all humans posses, that knowledge is power. This has been proven true since the beginning of history, and is certainly true today. Observe any corporate CEO (legitimately hard-working that is), athletic coach, or even priest; these people are in put power positions because they are believed to have knowledge others don't.
