William Damon on Finding your Purpose
And serving something bigger than yourself
In the 90’s film ‘Species’ Sil, an alien/human hybrid asks the question ‘Why are you here?’ I like to think about this question from the perspective of an alien figuring out what drives humans, besides surviving.
Philosophers have long since noted that besides life’s obvious necessities, we need a sense of purpose. It’s what keeps us alive, especially when circumstances are challenging. This was witnessed by the illuminating psychiatrist Victor Frankl while in the German concentration camps. He observed that prisoners who had a purpose to focus on tended to survive the ordeal, while those without purpose very quickly died. Frankl thought that concentration camps were a microcosm of the world; what he observed there was equally true on the other side of the barbs and watchtowers. People need purpose not just if they want to thrive, but if they want to survive.
Perhaps the meaning crisis we’re living through is in some measure a crisis of purpose. According to the philosopher Susan Wolf, purpose is one of the four pillars of a meaningful life. Though what do we mean by it? Are all purposes equal? How might we discern it at different stages of life? My conversation with William Damon explored exactly these questions. Access the podcast here, or on the youtube link below.
Bill Damon is a psychology professor at Stanford University where he is director for the Centre on Adolescence. In our conversation Bill explained that finding purpose is often gradual, intrinsically motivated, assisted by other people, and defined by serving something bigger than yourself. In a culture reared on instant gratification and expressive individualism, it’s little wonder many people are struggling to find it.
Perhaps the two questions that stand out for me from this conversation when discerning my own sense of purpose are - what do I really care about? Where can I add value to others? The writer and preacher Frederick Buechner put it much more eloquently:
“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
I’m in my fifth decade and still trying to figure that out, though I’m also aware that the journey towards it is in some sense also the destination.
Complement the conversation with…
There are lots of connections with previous conversations here, let me offer you three:
Roger Scruton who was discussed last week had a very similar question to Bill’s, on whether the way we are spending our lives is in step with our values and bigger goals:
I loved this conversation with psychologist Dacher Keltner, where he points out that when experience awe, it can tell us where we can find meaning in life - perhaps it can also illuminate where to find a sense of purpose.
Back in 2016 I interviewed Aaron Moore for the project, a friend and an artist. Aaron and I met in Xi’An when we both lived there back in 2006 (I think), and we used to discuss life’s big questions. His question is very much on topic for this discussion - https://examined-life.com/interviews/aaron-moore/
Next time
I’m going to take the next week off as I head for the hills with some camping gear and. I’ll be back in a few weeks with a conversation on values, featuring an insightful and interesting conversation with
. Here’s a clip below: