The Purpose of Life

[fdrjk]

42

[quadz]

The purpose of life is to live.
Live life, stop asking silly questions about it.

Agreed. . . .


I can't resist adding, if there really is no god, and our universe began as something like a quantum fluctuation--and if there aren't any supernatural dimensions entangled with consciousness--then we really are just complex chemical processes.  Who, if any purpose could be ascribed to our existence, it would seem from a cosmological view that we exist to accelerate the heat death of the universe a bit.

(Note to reaper: There's no need to jump in with a post saying "but god does exist!" or whatever.)

[Laurelin]

But if "to live" is the object/end to be attained by Life - is it not achieved right off the birth? What's next?

Wouldn't death be a more suitable intent - it also seems to be common to all men.

Tubby 

[quadz]

But if "to live" is the object/end to be attained by Life - is it not achieved right off the birth? What's next?

I guess you might be talking about what sort of meaning we ourselves ascribe to living?

As opposed to a "purpose" determined for us by nature?

As for the latter, I would still maintain, given the stated assumptions above (no god, etc.), that we don't have a 'purpose' in the cosmos (except sort of along the lines of accelerating the heat death of the universe.)

[haunted]

Why?

[quadz]

Why?

Not sure if this is directed at my post, or at the thread in general? 

If the former, what I'm trying to say is: If there is some extra-dimensional stuff going on, like "god", or like we're all tuned into some sort of "cosmic unconsciousness" or whatever, then maybe there's some kind of purpose to our existence.

But if we're truly just complex chemical reactions taking place in a universe spawned by a random quantum event, then I don't see how we could have a 'purpose'.  Any more than the fusion reactor at the core of a star.  It may have a 'function'.  But I don't see how it (or any other chemical reactions in the universe) can have a purpose.  (Again given the stated assumption that the universe itself didn't begin with any purpose.)

Does that seem logical, or have I missed something?

[|iR|Focalor]

See, now the thread is going somewhere.

To sum it up, it seems like you're saying that the purpose of life is death.

The next question would be "what is the purpose of death?" It would be logical to assume that the purpose of death is to make room for more life.

Given that death is a permanent state, I would tend to think that it's also entirely possible that the purpose of death is NOT to make room for more life. Even decaying carbon based life gives birth to other small forms of life but not infinitely. Eventually resources are depleted beyond a life sustaining level.

Leading scientists theorize that it's entirely possible and probable that life exists somewhere else in the universe. Perhaps that is not the case. Perhaps life is so rare that we are the ONLY living beings in the entire history of the universe. Or perhaps life did exist somewhere in the universe at one point billions of billions of billions of billions of years ago and it's now dead. Given that we can conceptualize how infinite time and space is to a lesser degree, it seems odd that a civilization far far more advanced than us has not found us yet. Seems entirely logical and possible to me that we are indeed all alone in the universe.

[quadz]

To sum it up, it seems like you're saying that the purpose of life is death.

The next question would be "what is the purpose of death?"

I don't mean to be too much of a wet blanket on the discussion, but I'm saying if our universe really began as a random (purposeless) quantom event, then I think it may make no sense to inquire about the purpose of nuclear and chemical reactions resulting from that event.  (I.e. there is no 'purpose'.  We just 'are'.)

On the other hand... current scientific conjecture is that it is possible our universe is but one bubble in a frothing sea of universes, each spawned by its own quantum event.

So who knows, maybe our entire universe is just a 'brain cell' among this frothing sea of universes, and reality is fractal:




 

[Whirlingdervish]

I think people get caught up on the topic of life and death because of the tendency we have to try to think of things in the simplest of terms. Life and death aren't like two sides of a coin, one is actually just a tiny part of the other.

The big part is what would statistically give us a chance to have some meaning.

[quadz]

Leading scientists theorize that it's entirely possible and probable that life exists somewhere else in the universe. Perhaps that is not the case. Perhaps life is so rare that we are the ONLY living beings in the entire history of the universe. Or perhaps life did exist somewhere in the universe at one point billions of billions of billions of billions of years ago and it's now dead. Given that we can conceptualize how infinite time and space is to a lesser degree, it seems odd that a civilization far far more advanced than us has not found us yet. Seems entirely logical and possible to me that we are indeed all alone in the universe.

A couple additional possibilities:

- Maybe life is common, but "intelligent" life that can make radios and rocket ships is rare.

- Maybe advanced civilizations have existed or do exist somewhere, but the speed of light really is the absolute unsurpassable barrier that it seems to be.  So that it would take literally billions of years for them to reach us, just as it would also take billions of years for them to become aware of us even if they knew where to look.  (The observable universe is something like 93 billion light years across.)


 

[QwazyWabbit]

Leading scientists theorize that it's entirely possible and probable that life exists somewhere else in the universe. Perhaps that is not the case. Perhaps life is so rare that we are the ONLY living beings in the entire history of the universe. Or perhaps life did exist somewhere in the universe at one point billions of billions of billions of billions of years ago and it's now dead. Given that we can conceptualize how infinite time and space is to a lesser degree, it seems odd that a civilization far far more advanced than us has not found us yet. Seems entirely logical and possible to me that we are indeed all alone in the universe.

A couple additional possibilities:

- Maybe life is common, but "intelligent" life that can make radios and rocket ships is rare.

- Maybe advanced civilizations have existed or do exist somewhere, but the speed of light really is the absolute unsurpassable barrier that it seems to be.  So that it would take literally billions of years for them to reach us, just as it would also take billions of years for them to become aware of us even if they knew where to look.  (The observable universe is something like 93 billion light years across.)


 

Life IS common. That is my prediction of what science will find out there. Just as rings around planets are common, so to are ring and planets around stars.

"The universe is huge and old and rare things happen all the time."

Supernovae, rare as they appear to be to us, are like the twinkling of the stars in our sky at night to the lifetime of the universe.

The "rules" are simple, probability reigns supreme, improbable as we are, we exist and we are smart enough to begin to appreciate the beauty and scope of the universe. Man is still the only animal that takes time out from life to ask Why.

[|iR|Focalor]

A couple additional possibilities:

- Maybe life is common, but "intelligent" life that can make radios and rocket ships is rare.

- Maybe advanced civilizations have existed or do exist somewhere, but the speed of light really is the absolute unsurpassable barrier that it seems to be.  So that it would take literally billions of years for them to reach us, just as it would also take billions of years for them to become aware of us even if they knew where to look.  (The observable universe is something like 93 billion light years across.)

One more:

- Maybe they know exactly where we are and can reach us, but choose not to because we are far too aggressive and destructive as a species. Maybe they've watched us and recorded us with all of our wars throughout history and they've come to the conclusion that having any contact with us would spell eventual death for them.

If we started off on a friendly basis with them, we'd eventually want the same level of technology they possess. We would probably start killing one another for the right to have first dibs on it. Once we became technologically equal to them, they would no longer be able to escape our aggression.

Perhaps they have the technology to vaporize our entire galaxy into oblivion, but the wisdom of age and sense of justice NOT to do so. Perhaps they are positively terrified of how brutal, greedy and stupid we are.

[Sgt. Dick]

You guys definitely put a lot more thought into this stuff than I do.  Not that it is a bad thing, just not my thing.

Some interesting reading thou.

[quadz]

Maybe advanced civilizations have existed or do exist somewhere, but the speed of light really is the absolute unsurpassable barrier that it seems to be.

To add some visuals...



Here are nearby galaxies, with our Milky Way in the center.  Notice the "1 milliion light years" ruler.

We've only existed as a species for somewhere around 100,000 years.  (Or up to to 250,000 by some estimates.)

The milky way itself happens to be around 100,000 light years in diameter.

Anyone farther away than that little dot in the center has no chance to even know about us as a species yet.

 

"Space," it says, "is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space, listen..."
          -- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[QwazyWabbit]

Report from scout ship X4537890:

System: S1,200,354,789 local name "Sol"
Planet: P3 local name "Earth"
Dominant Species: Insectae
Communication: Acoustic, posture, coloration.
Technology: flight, burrowing, primitive tools, no manufacturing.

Note: Species "Human" considers itself dominant and sentient. Makers of tools, electronic communication, acoustic. Primitive language and culture. Species is mammalian and highy aggressive towards other species as well as its own kind. No meaningful spaceflight capability. Uses fossil fuels for combustion indirect conversion of heat into electricity. Nuclear fuels are used primarily for weapons of warfare. No significant energy capability.

Recommendations: No meaningful contact can be established with species Human but Dolphins are gracious hosts and love to party. Maintain quarantine and re-survey in another galactic rotation to see if there are any significant changes.