At some point, you may ask "Why do I exist? Why does this universe exist? Why does ANYTHING exist?"No religion answers this basic question in a logical fashion, or even states that the starting point for a discussion of the meaning of life should be based on observable phenomenon - facts. If we assume that we live in a rational, purposeful universe (and there is no evidence against this), then a rational being must ask what the purpose of the universe is. The only answer that I choose to accept is one that is in harmony with our current knowledge of science and the principles of the universe.
It seems to me that the answer to life's purpose is quite simple. It is my interpretation of the facts I am aware of that the universe was created for a specific purpose - to sustain intelligence - specifically, consciousness and self-awareness. I cannot imagine any reason for the universe to exist solely for the existence of non-living things - stars or rocks or minerals, or for non-sentient life - plants or fungus or clams. If someone created the universe, it took a remarkable amount of energy and intentional design. The only reasonable purpose I can suggest for creating a universe and, for that matter, for establishing space and time is to create a place for something to happen - for intelligent, conscious beings to evolve. Not that the universe was created specifically for humans, but that it was created as an environment for some sort of self-aware, conscious beings to develop. It just happened to be us, through the open-ended process of evolution. It could have been a difference species.
If true, then what is the purpose of having a universe that contains conscious beings? Many religions address this, but they rely on supernatural or irrational reasoning -- that we (humans) exist to receive God's love, or because of reincarnation, heaven, hell, spiritual preparation for a next level, etc. While I can't disprove any of these beliefs, I see no evidence to support any of them. Based on what we know - facts - I can only say that this universe appears to support conscious beings who must do something within the laws of space and time that we know now, other than just exist or blindly follow a set of rules for some future reward or punishment. It seems to me that the human race is learning - slowly, painfully, over time - right and wrong, and, eventually, wisdom. We learn this collective knowledge as a species the same way we learn as an individual - through reflection on, and avoidance of, pain and death, and appreciation of pleasure and beauty. Trial and error.
If the trend of human knowledge and evolution continues, then men will (eventually) evolve into wiser beings who will someday be able to approach - even control - the next step in their evolution.
I believe that we will soon start to alter our genetic machinery and create man-machine hybrids that we enable us to live much longer lives and learn much more in each lifetime. We will also be increasingly connected, plugged in to each other. Eventually, this will lead at some unknown future point into a state where we fuse - like the early cells that became multi- cellular organisms - into a singular, god-like consciousness. To some extent, we have already started a crude super-organism now, with the Internet and mass media, where we connect and experience the world through rapid connections. Each technological step speeds up the process of evolution, bringing us closer to the ultimate end.
If this fusion is the ultimate destination of human existence, it is not unreasonable to think that this was the design of the universe - to create a breeding ground for the development of super-conscious beings over billions of years. For some unknown reason, it seems that this type of consciousness must be learned "the hard way" - through the experiences of free will and suffering - war, pain, famine, genocide. It is only through the essentially pointless suffering of billions of beings that our species will eventually "get it" and focus its attention on progress, rather than wasting time acquiring riches and power (usually at the expense of others) or just pursuing mindless pleasures. Or so I hope.
But apparently time and human suffering are of little relevance to the "creators," whomever they may be, except that they teach us what is bad, what is to be rejected. To what purpose our distant descendants will serve - thousands of years from now - is something we cannot know, until we approach that frontier.
This, then, is the purpose of life. The sooner we dedicate our energies to developing this future, the sooner we will arrive at this destination. Science, technology, genetics, life extension - all of these provide progress to the future world. In your daily life, you may already be supporting the human races' progress, through educating, policing, protecting, researching, healing. However, you may also be hindering human progress. All of our wasteful activities - wars, religion, materialism, mindless pleasures - only slow down human evolution and postpone the inevitable future.
It seems desirable to speed up the process of progress. Just imagine if radios or computers had been invented 100 years earlier, or vaccines, or the internal combustion engine...unfortunately, throughout history there have been forces that have tried to slow human progress. In European history, many of the people trying to move knowledge forward were destroyed - burned as "witches" or "heretics" because they sought the truth. But ultimately, the truth has won out.
Anyway, these are my view of things. I have started this "blog" about my views, which I called "Evolutionary Deism." I call it this because I believe in "god" (or some sort of creator or creators) and I believe that evolution is proof of this force, which has produced you and me over a 10 billion year process. I don't want to "convert" anyone or convince anyone to see things my way; I am only interested in discussing these ideas with people who share an openness to this point of view. It seems pretty obvious to me that this is true and supported by what I know about biology, physics, psychology, etc. If you agree, then let me know...
I believe that we will soon start to alter our genetic machinery and create man-machine hybrids that we enable us to live much longer lives and learn much more in each lifetime. We will also be increasingly connected, plugged in to each other. Eventually, this will lead at some unknown future point into a state where we fuse - like the early cells that became multi- cellular organisms - into a singular, god-like consciousness. To some extent, we have already started a crude super-organism now, with the Internet and mass media, where we connect and experience the world through rapid connections. Each technological step speeds up the process of evolution, bringing us closer to the ultimate end.
If this fusion is the ultimate destination of human existence, it is not unreasonable to think that this was the design of the universe - to create a breeding ground for the development of super-conscious beings over billions of years. For some unknown reason, it seems that this type of consciousness must be learned "the hard way" - through the experiences of free will and suffering - war, pain, famine, genocide. It is only through the essentially pointless suffering of billions of beings that our species will eventually "get it" and focus its attention on progress, rather than wasting time acquiring riches and power (usually at the expense of others) or just pursuing mindless pleasures. Or so I hope.
But apparently time and human suffering are of little relevance to the "creators," whomever they may be, except that they teach us what is bad, what is to be rejected. To what purpose our distant descendants will serve - thousands of years from now - is something we cannot know, until we approach that frontier.
This, then, is the purpose of life. The sooner we dedicate our energies to developing this future, the sooner we will arrive at this destination. Science, technology, genetics, life extension - all of these provide progress to the future world. In your daily life, you may already be supporting the human races' progress, through educating, policing, protecting, researching, healing. However, you may also be hindering human progress. All of our wasteful activities - wars, religion, materialism, mindless pleasures - only slow down human evolution and postpone the inevitable future.
It seems desirable to speed up the process of progress. Just imagine if radios or computers had been invented 100 years earlier, or vaccines, or the internal combustion engine...unfortunately, throughout history there have been forces that have tried to slow human progress. In European history, many of the people trying to move knowledge forward were destroyed - burned as "witches" or "heretics" because they sought the truth. But ultimately, the truth has won out.
Anyway, these are my view of things. I have started this "blog" about my views, which I called "Evolutionary Deism." I call it this because I believe in "god" (or some sort of creator or creators) and I believe that evolution is proof of this force, which has produced you and me over a 10 billion year process. I don't want to "convert" anyone or convince anyone to see things my way; I am only interested in discussing these ideas with people who share an openness to this point of view. It seems pretty obvious to me that this is true and supported by what I know about biology, physics, psychology, etc. If you agree, then let me know...
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