What's the point?

This chapter is about the meaning of life and the purpose of the universe. What is the point of it all? Is there any point? Does it really matter if there's not? Even the most successful among us may be plagued by nagging doubts about the meaning and purpose of existence. Even for those who achieve wealth, fame, and acclaim beyond their wildest expectations – perhaps especially for these people – the question creeps back like an unwelcome visitor: what does it all mean? Is life no more than a downhill slide into the grave, in which we strive merely to postpone our deaths and prolong a pointless and uncomfortable existence?

These questions are probably more pressing for people living today than they were before the rise of civilization and science. When people's conception of the universe was limited to the small corner of the world they inhabited, it was easy to believe that they were a significant part of that universe.