Ex- and intrinsic
I've been mulling over this extract from the Winston article on religion and evolution that I posted the other day:
A Harvard psychologist named Gordon Allport... came up with a definition of religiosity that is still in use today. He suggested that there were two types of religious commitment - extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic religiosity he ( Read more... )
"I feel like such an idiot."
"There's a lot of that going around."
"I just couldn't ... My whole life has been about being a cop. If I'm not a part of the force, it's like nothing I do means anything."
[beat]
"It doesn't."
"Doesn't what?"
"Mean anything. In the greater scheme, or the big picture ... nothing we do matters. There's no grand plan, no big win.
"You seem kinda chipper about that."
"Well, I guess I kinda -- worked it out. If there is no great glorious end to all this, if nothing we do matters, then -- all that matters is what we do. Because that's all there is: what we do, now, today."
[beat]
"I fought for so long ... for redemption, for a reward. Finally just to beat the other guy, but I never got it."
"And now you do?"
"Not all of it. All I wanna do is help. I want to help because I don't think people should suffer as they do. Because if there is no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness is the greatest thing in the world."
-- Angel and Kate, 'Epiphany'
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