What is our purpose for being here? Why would the universe be designed to allow life to come into being? Do we actually do anything for the universe, or are we just a chemical byproduct, sitting here waiting for the sun to go out ending it for all of us.
This thought came to me during yet another insomnia driven sleep deprived night. If I could have all of your thoughts on the subject it might calm my mind enough to fall asleep tonight.
I’m here because I am bored at work and too ethical to sneak out too too early.
Oh, but in a larger sense, there no why – although eating, dringing, and screwing work for me.
As for the universe being designed for life, that is just as dumb a statement as one can make. If the universe wasn’t capable of giving us life, we wouldn’t be here to point that out, would we?
No, we don’t do anything for the universe. We could all die tomorrow and I doubt the universe would notice. I do think we have free will (i.e. souls) although I respect some people just insist we’re chemical formulae just going through the motions. As for the sun, we got another 5 billion. Don’t panic.
We serve no “purpose” on a universl scale, other than to “occupy” certain matter and energy.
The universe was not “designed” to allow life to come into being. Life came into being here because the universe simply is as it is. If the universe were otherwise,we would not exist, at least in the manner that we do. If other “different” universes exist presently or previously we would not exist in them as we do here. So, simply put, we are here, because we aren’t there.
Chemical byproduct? Okay. I’ll accept that. But i’m a lawyer, so I paint science with a very broad brush. But I’m not sitting around waiting for the sun to go out. In any event, it is most likely that we and our progeny will be long gone well before then.
Sweet dreams.
BTW, who is your friend J?
I’d recommend getting the good night’s sleep first. THEN everything will make much more sense.
ElvisL1ves You have obviously never had insomnia. 
Getting to sleep first is not the easiest thing in the world.
jmullaney you said
“As for the universe being designed for life, that is just as dumb a statement as one can make.”
Why? The universe needs to be designed for life. If the universe didn’t have the exact chemical components that fit into other chemical components there would be no life. If Oxygen didn’t fit just right with hydrogen there would be no water, if water didn’t have a negative and a positive side there would be no soap, let alone Life.
I’m not sure exactly what I’m asking but it just seems to me that whole universe is set up for certain things to happen, that wouldn’t happened if things worked differently. What I’m asking is why? Why is the universe set up for life to be possible? Thanks for the replies I am truly curious about this.
'Cause “there” was already taken?
Sua
to annoy each other and waste each others time to make sure noone figures out, “why we are here.”
Dal Timgar
Everybody’s gotta be somewhere.
(No matter where you go, there you are)
Well, we went to Florida last year…
The OP asks: What is our purpose for being here?
Well, maybe the whole concept of “purpose” is another one of those humanoid’s creations like the concept of God (designer of the universe?!). Confronted with questions to which we have currently no answers, the egotistical and idiotic human being answers “God knows”. He/she prefers to create a fairy tale of religions and God rather than simply admitting that he/she is in too early stages of human knowledge and brain evolution to know (comprehend) the answers, if any.
It took billions of years for us to reach a point today when we can pose such questions as “what are the chemical make up of our DNA and anatomy”. Surely, you are not so egotistical to think that in year 2001 the human cortex has evolved to the point that it can even comprehend all the answers, if any, to some of the questions we are now capable of posing.
To put your mind at rest (so that you can sleep), think of it this way. Let’s compare today’s state of human knowledge and brain ability to 2 billion years ago. Now, on a piece of paper, create a scale of 1 to 10. Put a zero at 2 billion years ago. Then put a 10 at 2 billion years from now. The entire span of your scale would cover 4 billion years. Now, where on this scale, do you think your brain capability is today? I assure you it is not anywhere near the middle. All indications are that we are very near the zero mark rather than anywhere near the middle, let alone the 10 mark.
With the above perspective, you can easily see that the answer to the question “what is the purpose for being here?” is simply that we are species in very early stages of mental evolution. Trying to answer questions that are way above the comprehension of current state of our brain capability is nothing but bestowing too much self-importance to ourselves while we are mere snails.
So, sleep tight, knowing that you are simply here as part of an evolutionary process that came into being billions of years ago, and still has billions of years to go to explain why.
Meanwhile, you may want to lobby the congress to divert some of the defense expenditures into brain research and acceleration of human learning and perception. I am sure Cecil Adams would agree with that. But that is a subject of a different thread.
“A zygote is a gamete’s way of producing more gametes. This may be the purpose of the universe.”–Robert A. Heinlein, in Time Enough for Love.
If the universe had different physical laws some othe form of sentience might evolve, and be asking the exact same question you are.
Dammit. I explained that already. If the universe wasn’t capable of giving us life, we wouldn’t be here to point that out.
makes me think of Parasite Eve for the PlayStation.
Mitochondria is “life” and we are merely the tool for their reproduction. Made me smile.
And why not? Existentialistic thoughts about the inherent lack of “purpose” always seemed like the truth to me.
Because we’re here - Roll the Bones.
[sub]Hey, I’m allowed one Rush quote per week. It’s in my contract, dammit. Besides, it’s not like David’s gonna smack me for quoting Rush![/sub]
…cannot be found. It can, however, be made. If you want a meaning of life, make one. Don’t go looking for one, because there will never be one that you “find,” only one that you “make.”
Or to quote Joseph Campbell, “Life has not meaning. We bring meaning to it.”
And make it good.
sorrysorrysorry! That should have been “Life has NO meaning…”
Misquoting Campbell! Sheesh!
According to what? What “indications” show we’re in the “Early stages” of “mental evolution”?
For all we know, we may be the most intellectually advanced species in the galaxy. Or the universe. Perhaps there is no adaptive advantage to being any smarter than we are now; we may well have hit our intellectual limit already. Whty not? Sharks are dumb and they’ve been around longer than us.
I’m here… because a big clown hit me!
Now, can we get on to the important questions like why we laugh at clowns, why puppies are cute, and why little blue men chase me and hit me with fish?
I don’t know…are the little blue men Monty Python fans?