Pointless Is The Point
Would you flash your bum to a passing train? Why? But why not? Does there need to be a reason to anything?
Guest post from Ed Zhao
This week I have a big treat for you. Ed has been a close friend for nearly 20 years. Living the dream in Australia these days, he’s still one of the biggest thinkers I know. From an encyclopedic knowledge of Chinese history to the contemplation of the purpose of life itself - our lunchtime walks around London were always something to look forward to!
I think you will enjoy this one.
Would you flash your bum to a passing train?
Why?
But why not?
One morning while going through my morning routine, I chanced across an article about a bunch of locals in the Northern Territory (Australia) displaying their full-moon-like bare posteriors to the passengers travelling on the luxury cross-continent train called the Ghan. Like many astrological events, this ‘mooning’ would take place once every 10 years. Humoured, I continued to read the article, trying to find out why. Maybe my routine distracted me, but I could not find any profound explanation in the article, nor by watching the video embedded.
Then, I reflected on some of my journeys, and smiled…
Why does everything have to have a point?
Why are you doing this? Why aren’t you doing this?
It seems everything in this rational world has to have a point, some reason, some glorious goal. We are meant to make progress, become better people, achieve more, deliver more efficiently and effectively.
“A soldier who does not want to become a general is not a good soldier”, as Napoleon said.
But as an old Beijinger said..
“You could have ten thousand acres of prime farmland, but you couldn’t eat much more than three meals a day, and you could have ten thousand gold bars, but you could take nothing with you upon death.”
Life has no meaning.
When I was young, life had meaning.
First, wearing my Chinese Young Pioneer’s red tie, I learnt it was for the liberation of mankind, a quote from Nikolai Ostrovsky’s Soviet literary classic. Then, having left the Motherland and sitting in my adolescent home in the Cotswolds (UK), I thought it might be to help alleviate poverty in distant lands. As I graduated and started working in London, I felt maybe it was to leave some mark in the world.
Then, one day, as I watched the leaves fall, while living through one of the nearly 300 days of COVID lockdown in Melbourne (Australia), it dawned on me that for the world with its thousands years of history and the universe with its unimaginable dimensions, when I would die or whether I had been born at all, was as insignificant as that falling leaf outside the window was to me.
Why should everything have a meaning? There is none.
No meaning means everything is meaningful.
When life itself has no meaning, then there is no great or small.
Every experience has some merit. You are nothing but a collection of stories you have made, you can remember, and you have told to others. Eventually, you might not remember your own stories and certainly others will forget your stories too, however wholeheartedly everyone had laughed at the time while standing around with pints in hand.
Look after the means, then the right end will come, as Gandhi said. I never appreciated that saying nor any Buddhist philosophy when I was young. It was all too passive. But now, I find myself drawn to those once perceived weaklings.
Being kind is better than being right.
We know what kindness is but we can never truly be sure about what is right. In the name of right, people have shed tears, blood and lost lives.
Meanwhile, the sun continues to rise from the east, the rain still falls, and we are like the withered leaves dropped onto the streams, carried away to the sea.
So have a great time! And see you in 2034?
So, let’s not worry about the big stuff.
Whether you can liberate mankind, alleviate poverty, leave a mark, or just float away, everything will disappear, flushed away.
By the time I had finished reading the article about flashing bums at train passengers, I had a big smile on my face and felt nice and light-hearted.
Well, if you are in the Northern Territory in 2034, maybe you’ll find me and join me and the other pointless people, displaying our full-moon-like bare posteriors to the passengers travelling on the luxury cross-continent train called the Ghan.
You never know, we might meet again in 2044, and beyond!
If you’d like to check out more from Ed, the talent doesn’t stop here. Check out his book, The Princeling, here.
Two Recommendations - what to consume this week
1. 50 (Short) Rules For Life From The Stoics
Ryan Holiday comes at you with a a quick fire list of how you could tweak your life. Pick and choose from this buffet of great ideas.
2. Robert Waldinger: What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness
This video deserves its own post so watch out for that in the coming weeks. In the meantime, give this one a watch and explore what really puts you on the path to a good life. It might surprise you.
Top 3 articles of the week
Finding great articles on Substack can be difficult. Fear not, I have been digging deep into the discovery areas of the platform so you don’t have to.
Here are my top three posts to read this week:
I put my head in the sand for nearly 2 years out of fear to be a sell-out by
Here lies the internet, murdered by generative AI by
What to read next on Never Stop Learning
Thank you for reading and see you next week!
Oh, and please hit Like below (if you liked it of course!)
This reminds me of something I read once:
A man sees Buddha and Buddha is smiling.
“Buddha, why are you smiling?” He asks.
“Why aren’t you smiling?” Laughs Buddha.
“Buddha, why are you laughing?” Asks the man.
“Why aren’t you laughing?” Asks Buddha
Great post Martin, I enjoyed Ed's perspectives. Instead of searching for profound reasons, we should appreciate life's simple pleasures and spread kindness without overanalyzing.