A parent's view of existentialism

 A philosopher facebook friend had a baby a few years ago. While trying to figure out what that baby needed one day, he took some notes:

So, basically the routine with baby is pretty simple. I pick her up and sit down and hold her and talk to her and smile at her until she smiles back. We stay like this for as long as possible until she starts expressing agitation. Then there's basically a rundown of options. First, check the diaper and if it needs changing see if we can go back to normal after that. If not, a bottle if it's been more than two hours. If it's not been two hours, I try burping her, putting her on the playmat and trying the bouncy seat. If none of that works, I try to put her to bed. If that won't work, I put her in the carriage and walk her all around the park until she falls asleep.

If none of that works and she's still upset, I accept that even she has no idea what she wants so there is no way to satisfy her. She has an insatiable and unbearable emptiness that lacks any recognizable means of being filled. It's essentially an existential crisis. So we read some Camus together while she screams. Which doesn't fix her problem any more than it fixes anyone else with an existential crisis---since he is better at confusing people into nihilism than getting them out of it with his lousy misrepresentation of the human condition. But I figure Sophie is French and she should learn the vacuity of 20th Century French philosophy sooner rather than later so that we can get her on to better things in preschool.

His son probably understands the vacuity of Camus better than I do by now, but I did come across this, a speech by Albert Camus, reflecting on the world after World War II. It is still relevant now. Perhaps more, as we struggle to determine if we have prevented another massive conflict or are on the brink of one. 

I know we are all busy, so here is a summary of the part where he answers, "what are we to do?"

1.       Reject acquiescent and fatalistic thinking.

2.       Eliminate capital punishment and torture and reduce anything that increases fear in the world.

3.       Put politics behind reflective thought, and focus on our own values and aspirations.

4.       Create expressions of positive values.

5.       Speak your truth, while being aware of when your values are shared, and when they are not.