{"product_id":"life-is-short-an-appropriately-brief-guide-to-making-it-more-meaningful-9780691240619","title":"Life Is Short: An Appropriately Brief Guide to Making It More Meaningful","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhy life's shortness--more than anything else--is what makes it meaningful\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDeath might seem to render pointless all our attempts to create a meaningful life. Doesn't meaning require transcending death through an afterlife or in some other way? On the contrary, Dean Rickles argues, life without death would be like playing tennis without a net. Only constraints--and death is the ultimate constraint--make our actions meaningful. In \u003ci\u003eLife Is Short\u003c\/i\u003e, Rickles explains why the finiteness and shortness of life is the essence of its meaning--and how this insight is the key to making the most of the time we do have. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eLife Is Short\u003c\/i\u003e explores how death limits our options and forces us to make choices that forge a life and give the world meaning. But people often live in a state of indecision, in a misguided attempt to keep their options open. This provisional way of living--always looking elsewhere, to the future, to other people, to other ways of being, and never committing to what one has or, alternatively, putting in the time and energy to achieve what one wants--is a big mistake, and \u003ci\u003eLife Is Short\u003c\/i\u003e tells readers how to avoid this trap. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBy reminding us how extraordinary it is that we have any time to live at all, \u003ci\u003eLife Is Short\u003c\/i\u003e challenges us to rethink what gives life meaning and how to make the most of it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDean Rickles\u003c\/b\u003e is professor of history and philosophy of modern physics at the University of Sydney, Australia, where he is also a director of the Sydney Centre for Time. His many books include \u003ci\u003eCovered with Deep Mist: The Development of Quantum Gravity\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eA Brief History of String Theory\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51185836458258,"sku":"9780691240619","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_dfb883ce-0834-4a82-ac1f-ddf6d93ce4fa.jpg?v=1744589316","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/life-is-short-an-appropriately-brief-guide-to-making-it-more-meaningful-9780691240619","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}