Discussion»Questions»Human Behavior» I have often thought about this. Does the Human race actually have a purpose other than to just reproduce and destroy?
Bees pollinate, earthworms recycle, small animals provide food, large predators control prey populations, animal waste fertilizes. I could go on and on. What do we do other than to screw up the balance that existed before us.
In the end it's all pointless, so they still don't really have a purpose. I don't really see the point of the life cycle when all it really is is a perpetuation of death and suffering. Unless there's some kind of god who gets his jollies off watching it then I guess he created it for the purpose of his creepy fetish, but I don't think that's the case. Even if it was all butter cookies and friendship, it still wouldn't have a purpose. Anyway, despite my emo babble, I don't think it's a bad thing that nothing has any real purpose. I think we'd all be happier if we stop searching for some non-existent purpose and live our lives to the fullest and help others along the way, but we can't live happy lives if we trash the environment so people definitely need to clean up their act.
(Note: my wife taught HS Biology for 14 years) The practice of assigning purpose to things, particularly in the natural world, is called teleology. For the most part, this ideology assigns solutions that are more simple convenience than fact, as it tends to subvert the processes of cause and effect.
For example, bees don’t exist to pollinate, they consume nectar and transfer pollen as a by-product of feeding. Small animals don’t exist solely to be food, but they become food because they happen to be locally available to the larger animals. Not all animal waste fertilizes, as carnivores‘ waste is too acidic, and requires addtional “processing” by another phylum of species to be rendered usable to plants.
The error of teleology is this: Life forms evolve as a matter of filling an opportunity, not because opportunity is molded to them.
This post was edited by Don Barzini at August 27, 2018 3:36 PM MDT
Humans are what we are today because we've evolved into animals with thumbs....Greed comes from the survival of the fittest and to this day ,it still rules the world with an iron fist.... :(
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Not that I’ve seen. It would really be something if we as a species could unite in a single purpose. Some will say man’s purpose is to “serve God”, and the ever-contrasting versions of that ideal have bred strife and destruction on an incomparable scale.
History is a long litany of our self-interest and conflicting purposes. Somehow, we’ve managed to plod forward anyway, despite ourselves and our lack of cohesion.
This post was edited by Don Barzini at August 29, 2018 2:16 AM MDT
To discover our hidden treasure within, and to realize that eternal Truth found within. ...and then to Live within that Truth in eternal bliss as all things in life fall into place.
There definitely is no common purpose to life amongst humans. To me my purpose is to be a good person, help others, make the world a better place, and to take care of earth.
"The conclusion of the matter, everything having been heard, is: Fear the true God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole obligation of man." (Eclesiastes 12:13)
Patchouli 