What really matters?

 “It’s all very well, this philosophy business, but will it help me remember where I buried my bone?” asks Gromit.

See my earlier bloggery here:

Under what circumstances can considering Big Questions affect our everyday actions and decisions?

•        They might inspire us to take on big projects like space exploration, building a cathedral or the Large Hadron Collider
•        They might help us to face death with less fear
•        They might help us to see our own lives from a rational perspective so we don’t strut about the world thinking it revolves around us
•       They might help us to be compassionate to other people and cultures
•       They help us to think more effectively and carefully about everything
•       They generate questions which have no answers, and so provide topics for endless discussion. Conversation and discussion are crucial to being human.

Perhaps philosophising is a particular kind of storytelling.

If philosophising and storytelling are natural human traits, they might have arisen because they gave us an evolutionary advantage. What could that be?

•        Helping to bring a community together
•        Refining language
•       Relieving stress
•        Attracting a mate

Getting back to Gromit’s question – What really matters? His expression suggests he agrees with Voltaire : ‘Just cultivate your garden.’