In the original The Twilight Zone television series, there was an episode that periodically comes to mind and haunts me to this day. (It really doesn’t haunt me; it’s just fun to think about)…(okay, it haunts me a little)…(HELLLLLP!).
It had to do with a small-town resident apparently possessing the meaning of life. Whenever he’d whisper this “truth” to someone, the listener would go insane. By episode’s end, half the town’s residents were out of their minds, not being able to cope with this new information.
So, the question I’ve always asked myself is, “what could be so frightening about the meaning of life that it would cause everyone to go totally crazy?”
I’ve still never been able to figure that out.
So, I’ll ask you: is there an answer to this question? Not the meaning of life (though, feel free to share your opinion of that, as well, if you’d like) but rather, what could be so scary that knowing it could cause us to lose our minds?
Instead of my responding to each answer, I’m going to just sit back and enjoy, if you don’t mind. Though, I’ll do so without the pepperoni pizza that I used to eat whenever I watched “The Zone.”
Oh, one more thing. Get this, get this; I know this episode aired during the original series, not the 1985 revised series. I remember the black and white setting. And, I remember watching it in college back in 1980. Yes, I remember it as though I were watching it yesterday. Yet, when I tried to search for it on the site of the original series, I could not find it. I could only find it as part of the new series, the episode entitled, “The Need to Know.”
But, I absolutely, without question, remember it. I remember it clearly as can be. I KNOW I do. What is happening? What’s going on? How can I not…
{Narrator: A middle-aged man with graying hair and a slightly expanding girth cannot fathom why his memory, which he thinks of as a steel trap, is possibly failing him. Or, rather is it the world that is failing his memory? He begins to lose his mind as he cannot deal with not being able to place that which he is sure happened. Or, did it happen? That is the quandary he faces as he wanders cyberspace and finds himself suddenly trapped in…The Twilight Zone.}
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Funny thing as I gave thought to this question (before coffee-I want credit here) early this morning as I am getting ready to go to our local social media breakfast here in Houston was…what I think might have made them go crazy was the fact that all along they had a choice in how their story played out and when they discovered that in that instant- “truth” rang clear through them and it drove them crazy realizing what a wasted opportunity they had just blown out of the water ;).
That’s my story and I am sticking to it, chuckle ( how ever that country song goes) Now for some coffee…
Well….
First, you should read this great book by David McRaney entitled “You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too May Facebook Friends, Why Your Memory is Mostly Fiction and 46 Other Ways You’re Deluding Yourself”. It’s an interesting read about how the way we view the world may not necessarily be how the world is. There’s a couple of chapters on how our memory may play tricks on us.
Assuming you’re memory is impeccable on this (and it should be since I remember an episode of The Outer Limits in much the same way), I have a thought on why people might be disoriented (or driven insane) by this secret.
There may actually be no meaning to life. Life may be a lot more random than we want to believe. If you look at the diversity of life on this planet you have to wonder why there are “the 1%” and why there are people starving across the planet when there is the technology to feed the planet. Why are there gifted musicians and writers and speakers and those who go through life totally illiterate.
There is a cute video parody on the Internet about Siri, the new Apple iPhone personal assistant. A group of friends are all given iPhones for Christmas and one guy opens his up and asks Siri, “What is the meaning of life?” (http://youtu.be/4KGSi0AoJYs)
Meaning, I believe, requires a bit of faith that, in fact, there is meaning to life.
Evidently, not knowing what the guy whispered did it for you.
My bet is the same as the others; people in the town are told that they are creating their own reality.
Here’s what I think he whispered…”Good news, friend~ I have the secret to a wonderfully happy life. It’s simple, and I’d like to share it with you: You can have absolutely anything you want in your life. All you have to do is think about it and it will come to you. That’s it. Now go create the most amazing life you can imagine and have fun with it! Oh and one more thing…If you think about what you DON’T want or what you’re afraid of, that will come to you as well. Goodbye”
Phew!!! Good thing THAT’s not true! Can you imagine if it were THAT easy to create our ideal life? And that easy to create a big, fat mess?! It couldn’t be true, could it? Agggggghhhhh!!!
Glad I’m reading this in the morning and not right before bed. Thanks Bob, for eliminating the need for my second cup of coffee this morning 🙂
I believe they where told that they are the meaning of life. Stop searching and look within.
Twilight Zone to me was a freaky way of helping to explore the unknow and learning it always comes back to us. 100% responsibility
@Linda – I think you’ve got it with ‘If you think about what you DON’T want or what you’re afraid of, that will come to you as well.’
Wow, that does give me chills (but I’m not going to go mad).
Thanks everyone! Great post and discussion today.
Ha ha ha ha…thanks Kim. It IS scarey (and funny) but mostly scarey (and very funny!). Hoping I don’t go mad either. I agree, great discussion! 🙂
Agree with Linda, i think they noticed they could be, do and have things beyond their wildest dreams!!! I also think there is not meaning of life except the one we give, and…that’s the best because we can choose and create according to our personal meaning….i really enjoy this post and i never watched “the twilight zone” Gracias amigo!!
WOW!!!! This is a super good way to start my brain moving. At first I thought well what if I was told that nothing in life is worth anything and everything I do is for no reason and we have no purpose. That would certainly drive me mad. But then I read Linda’s (great by the way Lindar) and I thought what if everything we thought came true, even the super scary stuff. That would drive me crazy as well. I guess i am a true Gemini…I can see all sides of things…maybe that drives me crazy!…i need to do some more thinking.
You are geting old and gray! That’s it.
OK, a little more. I’m older than you and I can’t remember the episode of which you speak. I too loved that series. Scariest thing I can think of is…or was it…oh well the mind goes first! Nothing scares me anymore. I’m too old (66) to care and I don’t let silly TV shows bother me anymore. Oh, for a time when I had a better imagination.
I’m with Christine, I would think the scariest thing to hear is that this life is it. Nothing after, thus no purpose or meaning. That would be depressing!
I am just flat out impressed by so many of your thoughts, explanations and answers. Thank you so much. And, a few of your answers could very well have been the secret that caused the people to go mad bwahahahahahaha!
As the narrator is concluding, the camera picks up Liberty the cat, strolling away around the corner with something in it’s mouth. The question lingers in the viewer’s mind. Just what has Liberty been putting in Bob’s coffee? And perhaps as important, for how long? Hmmmmm? Did the cat just wink at the camera? Fade to black….
The viewer feels movement at his feet, his own feline rubbing up against him with something in her mouth. Conspiracy?
Craig: I wouldn’t put it past her! LOL!
They were shown a preview of the Monty Python “Meaning of life” and went completely mad.
What is so scary about the meaning of life that upon learning the answer it would make one go crazy? What a great thought provoking question and post (as most of yours are Bob)! I have spent the better part of the last 2 days thinking about it before responding. How about this (and if it has been said elsewhere I am sorry, I did not read the responses others gave so as not to bias mine): Knowing the meaning of your life would mean that you would be required to take action or face a life of purposelessness and despair. A life that Whitman called, “living in quiet desperation”. I can imagine (and honestly have known from experience) how maddening that feeling and knowledge can be. Thanks Bob for the shot of thought caffeine this week! Keep it coming and we need to get you back to Kansas City sometime soon.
Doug: 🙂
Jim: Great thoughts. And, have been speaking with Joyce L-B regarding another program in Kansas City this year. Hopefully, it will happen.
I’ve been thinking of this often. My father would show me twilight zone episodes when I would stay home sick and this one really stuck with me.
I think I realized that everything is made out of dots(and those dots are made of dots) and people get so wrapped up in their drama, they don’t see the beauty of what is around them. The universes around us every second and the universe we’re in. It’s all dots and it’s so beautiful, sometimes it makes me laugh and cry at the same time. /overwhelminglybeautiful/
I think I became a fully sentient person when I realized the universe is just a bunch of dots and I’m made up of dots. I think he probably whispers something about this and people become fully self aware.
They should make a sequel where the people regain their sanity, but they decide that they had a pleasanter time when they were insane, and thus they seek ways to regain their insanity.
James: Very well thought out!
John: Actually, that’s a fantastic episode idea!
What the secret is, what sayers was told at the end of the episode was not only are they in a tv show, but they are part of an anthology series in a 20 minute episode, and even though they have memories of fully lived lives, its all fake, their world has 20 minutes worth of life and that it has come to an end. Thats why sayers looked at the camera, at us, and thats why he screamed louder than anyone else in the episode. They all died, faded into nothingness.
El Kiote: LOL Very clever!
The secret could have also been if not that they are in a tv show, that they are in the twilight zone.
I belive we are what gives the universe meaning. Without consciousness in a sense nothing would exist because nothing could ever be observed. We love to assign meaning to abstrations, innanimate objects and ourselves even though we live in an oblivion of emptiness. Yet we are tenacious in believing and having hope. And that very idea of hope has gotten us a very long way. And I believe that is what makes us truly human and special
Steve: Very deep thinking. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!