I am somewhat surprised that what I intend to write about this week may indeed not be a HUGE leap from what I wrote about last week. Many things have been going through my mind — or maybe I should say: many influences.
When I finally came up with the title for this post, it was undoubtedly “under” the influence of The Beatles. I think my point today could have been a song the Beatles never got around to recording, but at some point may very well have done so. Obviously (to me at leat), the influence of their own song “I Me Mine”, which they bellowed out atop that London rooftop (which was apparently their last “live” appearance on the planet) even though they apparently didn’t play this song during their rooftop concert, is (to me at least) undeniable.
Yet again: although not completely different, I think today’s topic is different enough.
Another influence is — up to this point — “only in my head”. That’s Monty Python’s “The Meaning of Life” (1983). Lately, I have been pondering something like “The Meaning of Life” … I want to explicate this some more, but first I want to address something I find particularly curious about the exact wording of the title.
“THE“: is this the only definite article (in English)? The declares: there is one, there is only one and there is no “other“. Not “another” one. If there was an other, then English speakers would presumably be forced to use an indefinite article (of which I am only currently aware of “a” — and also the “an” variant). Now I wish to make my so-called “curiosity” fully clear: beyond the indefinite article, exists yet another thing English speakers use every now and then: My.
By the way: The reason I refer to these things as “curiosities” is because these (and many other similarly “curious”) observations can hardly be monetized. If something can’t be monetized, it also seems to be non-factual — instead: an opinion, or (perhaps even less than that) a mere curiosity.
On the other hand, I find it downright phenomenal that a phrase like “the meaning of life” would be so easily understandable. I mean: if someone were to attempt explaining “the meaning of life” to a living dog, I think the dog would probably cock their head to one side as if to say “come again?” [1] My hunch is that many or even most people will very easily think of the phrase “the meaning of life”, although what they have in their minds is much more akin to “my meaning of my life“.
[1] See also “Celebrity Talk Show“
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