I think <– this is an opening many people use to begin their talks. It’s a kind of defense mechanism wherein they can always rely on the ‘everyone is entitled to their own opinion’ moral code in the event the person they are talking with is of a different stance on the subject being discussed.

In any case… I think there are a lot of people in this world who like to believe that they are lucky to be alive in the moment in history in which they are because they feel that some breakthrough is imminent in their field of study. For example some scientists might be very excited telling the press or friends ‘we are on the brink of uncovering some evidence which has the potential to destroy our prior conceptions of how the universe was formed!!’ Likewise there are environmentalists who stress themselves, working countless hours, trying in vain to bring the common folk to action to save certain endangered species, without whose presence in the food-chain the ecosystem might collapse. I don’t mean to motion an uncaring hand with an accompanying ‘bah!’ and insinuate that they are wrong to feel that groundbreaking progress/recession will occur in their profession in their lifetime. I only want to bring awareness to the possibility that making a big spectacle (and feeling strongly that in the history of their career there is no better time to be alive than in their lifetime) might serve only to help them ignore the ambiguity of the meaning of life. I think the primary function of these attitudes, for a large number of people, is to provide them with feelings of self-worth.