# Who am I working for anyway? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748 "2013-03-23T16:02:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![postmodernleaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e4f/32.png) [@postmodernleaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postmodernleaper)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/1 "2013-03-23T16:02:13Z")
Is there any way to determine if we all are living in servitude to an unknown group humans or to another species. There seems to be little information available to us about why we exist & what the results of our existence amount to. One possible explanation for this lack of information about the who, what where & why of ourselves could be an outside effort to control or manipulate us as a species or population. Supposing outside manipulation may not be the simplest answer but beyond that, what evidence is there against it? ---
**Author:** ![Derc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@Derc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derc)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/2 "2013-03-23T16:35:02Z")
No big mystery, we live because we can. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/3 "2013-03-23T16:37:22Z")
It’s the Lizard People, dude. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/4 "2013-03-23T16:41:14Z")
It’s the mice. We’re all part of a big computer they designed. ---
**Author:** ![steviep24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@steviep24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steviep24)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/5 "2013-03-23T16:44:57Z")
The Illuminati? ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/6 "2013-03-23T16:49:10Z")
The Man. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/7 "2013-03-23T16:49:57Z")
Me. Get back to work. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/8 "2013-03-23T17:07:48Z")
To attempt a serious answer, there is no particular reason to believe that things that are not specifically designed by humans have a “purpose”. The human species and society as a whole is not something that was designed by humans, so there is no reason to imagine that there is a motivation behind it. “There is no purpose” is a simpler explanation than “there is a purpose but it is deliberately hidden by unknown parties”. Besides, I think that if humanity was being controlled by some entity for the purpose of achieving something, we would see some end product of that control. By and large, humanity as a whole doesn’t seem to do much of anything. Some humans went to the moon, and a lot of humans helped them do that, but _most_ humans were not involved. If there was a grand, imposed purpose, even if it was being done through manipulation from the shadows, you’d expect that most of humanity would be involved in it at some level. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/9 "2013-03-23T17:14:51Z")
This is really a recasting of “What’s the meaning of life?” with only the added assumption that humans do “work” at something as a group. The answer will depend on the level of the query’s intent, and could range from “whoever gives us our next meal” to “the collective consciousness of galactic betterment.” Name yer poison. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/10 "2013-03-23T17:46:22Z")
Did you just see “The Matrix” by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![EatTheSun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@EatTheSun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EatTheSun)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/11 "2013-03-23T17:50:41Z")
According to Loverboy, everybody’s working for the weekend. Hope that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/12 "2013-03-23T17:55:27Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Did you just see “The Matrix” by any chance? Sounds like it. But \*Matrix \*just recycles a lot of philosophical points beginning with the dharmic _maya_. Aliens and bio-energy pods aside, it’s also a pretty good analogy for our present reality. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/13 "2013-03-23T18:01:14Z")
While I do know that many corporations are interconnected by being owned by an even larger international corporation, I seriously doubt it is anything like the Illuminati game.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/14 "2013-03-23T18:17:48Z")
The fact that there is so little information about the secret group controlling all of humanity is evidence _against_ that secret group’s existence, not for it. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/15 "2013-03-23T19:09:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The fact that there is so little information about the secret group controlling all of humanity is evidence _against_ that secret group’s existence, not for it. I think they’re buying it, frater. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/16 "2013-03-23T19:30:52Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Me. Get back to work. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![HotDogWater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/35a633/32.png) [@HotDogWater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HotDogWater)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/17 "2013-03-23T19:37:39Z")
According to _Ancient Aliens_, we were monkeys until the aliens visited and crossbred with us, turning us into humans. We then mined the gold they needed for fuel. And in the future, they will come back (there are all sorts of landmarks we built, like the pyramids and stonehenge, to help guide them) to refill their tanks. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/18 "2013-03-23T22:20:55Z")
> [@postmodernleaper](#): > > …Supposing outside manipulation may not be the simplest answer but beyond that, what evidence is there against it? Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. So keep looking. You can’t prove a negative. So give up. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/19 "2013-03-23T23:29:32Z")
The suggestion has been floated that the entire universe (as we know it) and any number of other universes, do not actually exist at all. They are all just simulations running in the mind of God, who is watching how all these simulated universes pan out, before He goes and invests all the trouble of creating a _real_ universe. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748/20 "2013-03-23T23:39:23Z")
Entropy cannot be eliminated, it is always increasing. Ergo, [we’re all working towards a cold, dark, universe.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe) Once all sub-atomic motion stops, time essentially does too. Bummer… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-working-for-anyway/653748.md?page=2)