by John Devera

Created on: January 03, 2009

There are a few different possible answers to this question, depending on your perspective, all of which are entirely true. From a scientific point of view, life has a particular meaning. From a philosophical point of view, life has a different meaning. From an ethical point of view life has still a third possible meaning. And from a theological perspective, life has even another meaning. And the fun part of all this contemplation is that all of these different purposes to life are consistent with each other!

SCIENTIFIC PURPOSE

Life exists in only one place in the universe, as far as we can tell with absolute certainty: on the earth. And life here exhibits only one purpose, to continue and expand. The purpose of life is to live. Further, in contemplateing this purpose, we can also add that this purpose includes the truths that in order to live, all living things must create more life, and live in such a balance with the environment that life continues to expand.

Life can be found in the most inhospitable environments. Life adapts. Life can be found in great abundance and variety, but always in a harmonic balance that creates a stable environment, for instance in a termite mound or bee hive. Life thrives. Life can be found getting more and more complex, working in communities, building, taking things apart, re-building. Life invents.

So, scientifically, the purpose of life is to adapt, thrive and invent.

PHILOSOPHICAL PURPOSE

Human life is different from all other kinds of life on earth, because, as far as we can judge, we are the only living beings in the universe that are self-aware, capable of creating civilizations, worship God and are aware of our own mortality. Right there, since we are unique in these ways, we must consider that our uniqueness defines our purpose. Any animal can have sex. That cannot be our purpose alone. Any animal sufficiently advanced can get inebriated, eat to excess, sleep, fight, kill, die. These cannot be our purpose alone. Instead, our purpose, that purpose unique to us, is connected to our unique qualities. So, what is our purpose?

We are self-aware, so we must nurture our insightful contemplation of our existence. PURPOSE 1: We need to think, dream, philosophize and meditate.

We are capable of creating civilizations, so we must nurture our capacity to be civilized. PURPOSE 2: We must create, build, and invent.

We are capable of worshipping God, so we must seek to know the mystic, the supernatural, the divine.. PURPOSE 3: We must seek

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>