Before we hop back in, let’s continue the q&a portion for just a sec longer. I bet some of you not-quite doomers might be thinking: “Eh, this shit is no big deal, anyone can look at different parts of the world and see how they fit together. This asshole is just full of himself.” Be that as it may, you’re still seeing it as an intellectual exercise. I cannot emphasize enough how learning to see The Big Picture is not natural but something you have to put a ton of effort into learning. For me it was the result of an obsession with Life. I want to learn about all the metabolic processes of the world, of society, of the ocean, of the galaxy, of spoken language, etc, etc, etc because I want to see Life better and more clearly because I love it so fucking much and anything that is adversarial to Life I think is bad and any analysis that stops short of Life just ain’t interesting until it finds its place in The Big Picture – The Portrait of Life.

If you don’t know what I am talking about then you’re not a doomer and that’s okay, most people aren’t. And there’s no judgment – like I said earlier, I’m not actually a big fan of feeling totally and utterly hopeless. It’s not ideal imho. So, no judgment.

Another way to illustrate the difference between seeing the big picture and seeing The Big Picture that I think drives the point home fairly well is this: I’m a pretty good cook. I am fully confident that most of the food I make is pretty good and occasionally I make something that is pretty freakin awesome if I do say so myself; and sometimes on those occasions one of my kids will say something to the effect that I could win on Top Chef with this meal. Whenever this happens I take the opportunity for a little Life Lesson™. I know it’s hard to believe that there are people who wouldn’t soak up my wisdoms the first time they heard them, but I’ve had to lay this one out a few times (and probably will again, but what can ya do?).

           Anyway, when I get told that the food I make could make a run on Top Chef, I firmly and unequivocally tell them absofuckinglutely not. Not even close. Like I said, I’m a pretty good cook and I am confident that I could make a meal that any of the Top Chef judges would thoroughly enjoy. Then if I asked them if it could win a challenge on the show they would laugh at me until I cried. And rightfully so.

           Seriously, let’s step back here a moment and see what’s going on: on the one hand you have me. I have some talent for cooking that I developed as a line cook in my youth and improved upon over the next couple of decades as the primary meal prepper for a single family. Cool, alright. On the other hand you have someone who also has some talent for cooking that they developed as a line cook in their youth. And at some point fell in love with food and made it the focal point of their life. They found a way to be mentored – through formal training or through experience, or a combination of both. They took vacations centered around food, went on messageboards, read magazines and books, talked shop with other people who shared their passion, et cetera, et cetera, et fucking cetera. Now, if those two life paths lead to comparable culinary outcomes then that is the bleakest shit I have ever heard and there really is no point in doing literally anything so why bother? Seriously think about it. If the outcome is even close then that is still too fuckin bleak to comprehend. Like I said, I’m a pretty good cook, I make some pretty good food. These people make experiences and push the bounds of human creativity. It’s not that we’re not in the same league, it’s that we aren’t even playing the same game.

           I also explain to my kids that this is actually a really good thing. I love that there are people who are better than me at stuff I like. Getting the benefits of an expert’s expertise is one of the top perks of being a social animal, and honestly it’s been kind of a major bummer living in a society that worships authority and denigrates expertise on the whole. I love expertise and I love that there are so many different kinds of it accumulated by so many people in so many ways. Authority on the other hand? Lol. Anyway, the moral of the story is that being good at something is all great and cool, but it doesn’t really compare to when being good at something is the starting point for pouring your entire self into learning about that thing to the point where you center your entire freakin life around it so that you can master it to the best of your potential. Nobody should want these two things to be the same – this would be the biggest proof for the meaninglessness of life that I could imagine. Shudder the thought. Nihilism sucks donkey butt.