Paul Kalanithi
A brilliant neurosurgeon on the verge of completing a decade of grueling training is diagnosed with terminal cancer, forcing him to confront the profound question of what makes a life worth living.
Illness strips away the roles and future trajectories we use to define ourselves, demanding that we rebuild our identity around core values rather than professional productivity.
While medical science can analyze biology and extend longevity, it cannot answer the existential question of why a life is worth living or provide moral coherence.
A terminal diagnosis destroys normative expectations of time and progress, revealing that uncertainty is often more psychologically destabilizing than the certainty of death itself.