Isn't it true that we continue to strive all our lives in order to find peace and fulfillment? It's like a journey on a pier that goes out endlessly into the ocean without ever reaching the opposite shore. We never seem able to realize that everything in life is ephemeral, that new problems will always arise to meet us, that frustration never ends, that all is in flux and that there is nothing solid to hold on to, not even the love you share with another person. But how did we get the idea that there were ultimate solutions in life in the first place? Most of us were brought up on fairy tales, books, TV programs and movies in which there was a linear progression. At the beginning, the characters were happy, then something terrible happened and they were unhappy. Then they set out to overcome the difficulty, finally succeeded, and everyone was happy again - and that was the end of the story. Our early education was based on the premise of problem solving: every problem posed a challenge that could be solved - mathematic, scientific, whatever. There was an answer to every question; all you had to do was find it. Adults and the established authorities are committed to convincing children that there are linear solutions to all problems, and nowhere are you taught the continuous incompleteness of life. Oh, we talk about it, but inwardly we believe there is an answer, an end, a conclusion. I have a theory that all the modern books and movies that allude to absurd character of life and suggest the ultimate meaninglessness of human activity are fashionable only because people like to pay lip service to ideas of nihilism and senselessness. They like to pretend that they no longer believe in the old myths we were taught as children. That is, they effect an existential attitude but they don't really believe it. It's a kind of a vicarious appreciation of meaninglessness. Soap operas offer a perfect example of life's inconclusiveness. In them, people lead lives filled with striving. Every scene raises a problem and suggests that its solution is imminent. But if you follow any of these programs for more than a week or two, it becomes evident that not only will these people's problems never be solved but that they will never be completely stated. They will continue to exist and accrue, and the solutions are actually, or inevitably become, new problems. And further, these programs are among the most steady and lucrative on the air today, which means that there is an enormous audience who, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, still hope and believe these characters will solve their problems soon. The same idea is communicated in commercials. They give you the impression that you can unravel the knots of life simply, and they fail to confront - as a matter of fact they completely ignore - the human condition. It's like what Hamlet said about the undiscovered country: to look into the lie of progress, to understand that life may have no meaning, to contemplate the inconclusiveness of each person's struggle for fulfillment is simply too terrifying; that there is no answer, no end, that you'll always be on your way, that life is not a game you can win, but a game that has no end - and all you do is die somewhere in the middle of it.

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