X-Message-Number: 12346 From: "Scott Badger" <> References: <> Subject: Re: The Purpose of Life Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 14:51:06 -0500 Hi everyone, Let me say in advance that I do not mean to preach nor to offend. Much wiser minds than mine have contemplated these questions. I only offer my admittedly foggy thoughts to stimulate discussion. I do think this is very relevant to cryonicists, though, because if we achieve greatly extended lifespans, I think we're going to be increasingly confronted with these issues. Sorry if it's a bit long-winded. Constructive feedback is welcome [hidden pun]. In a nutshell . . . There is no meaning beyond that which we impose upon this universe. There is only relevance. We construct meaning. We are accomplished meaning-makers. People certainly seek purpose out in this world, but just because they seek purpose doesn't mean there is purpose. How DID we come to be the species that invented the question, "Why?" This is the interesting question . . . Why ask, "Why?" Why do we ask so many questions? This IS one of the more distinctive qualities of our species, isn't it? Other animals notice correlations (relationships) in their environment, and their behavior is shaped and conditioned by those correlations. For example, your cat hears the can opener running and it runs into the kitchen because it knows there's a good chance it's going to get food. Our larger brains allowed us to develop the higher order cognitive skill of perceiving causation, in addition to correlation. We ask "Why?" because we can . . . AND because it's often profitable to do so. Asking "Why?" helped us figure out which correlations were spurious and which were reliable. This ability gave us a profound advantage. Well, as soon as you have a creature examining it's environment for causal relationships by asking questions like "Why?", the quest for personal meaning ("Why me?") isn't far behind. But again, just because we seek purpose doesn't mean there is purpose. I believe Dr. Hughes has it backward when he states, "Knowledge acquisition does give us both pleasure and meaning, this is not coincidental." Knowledge acquisition doesn't give us meaning . . . we give knowledge meaning. It also seems to me that some are confusing the ideas of "drives" and "purpose" when they say things like "The purpose of life is to maximize pleasure". We are information processing mechanisms, hard-wired it appears to derive pleasure from novelty. I can think of lots of reasons why that attribute might have been selected for, but it's misleading to suggest that the "purpose" of our lives is to seek knowledge, novelty, or anything else that gives us pleasure. You would have to logically add that the purpose of life is also to avoid pain. That doesn't sound quite as majestic though, so it's rarely said. But the point is that most people, when referring to the "purpose" or "meaning" of life, are really referring to some spiritual phenomenon that lies at the core of our existence (you may have guessed that I place little credence in that hypothesis). My eventual take on the question, "What does my life mean?" was to ask the same question of any other life form. For example, what is the purpose of a Birch Tree's life? What meaning is there in the existence of that particular species? One might respond by saying that the Birch is very meaningful to other species that rely on the birch for their well-being. It's part of the ecological web of life and thus has purpose. But this implies that the Birch only has meaning as long as it is *relevant* to the lives of other creatures. And that's what meaning comes down to for most of us. Something is meaningful to the degree that it is relevant to our life. Is there then no intrinsic meaning to my life? . . . no purpose beyond the context of my relationships with others and the environment? This is pretty much the existential crisis many of us confront isn't it? Many deal with this crisis by becoming morose and depressed when they conclude there is no *true* meaning. Personally, I find the idea quite liberating. If there was an intrinsic purpose, then I would be restricted by the limitations associated with that purpose. Instead, *I* am in charge of establishing the purpose in my life. I can construct or deconstruct whatever meaning I choose to. I'm not bound by some pre-ordained directive. I am gloriously free in this respect. We're not here to find meaning. We're not here to do anything. We are simply here, we're in charge, and it pleases us to create meaning where there is none. So I eschew the notion of purpose. I simply am. I am a human . . . being. We are humans . . . being. Being is good. As a cryonicist, I seek to continue being. It's just about that simple. Best regards to all, Scott Badger Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=12346