Making Meaning in Life

The annals of global exploration are peppered withamusing stories about seafaring captains who wereconvinced they had discovered some new world, ora new route to a well-known world. A flotilla of shipswould drop anchor and the explorer would row ashoreand declare to the perplexed local inhabitants that theyhad been discovered. As in the case of ChristopherColumbus and North America, it seems that the narra-tive and purpose of the voyage neatly and resilientlyframed his experience. The comedian Louis CK jokesabout the first meeting between Columbus—who in-tended to reach India—and the Caribbean inhabitantswho greeted him: