I will not pretend to answer or even indeed know the outcome to the above question, but it bothers everyone that we don’t have a clue.
For some it is to work and achieve. For some it is to pro-create. For some it is simply to exist. Lets try and dispense with these one at a time.
Our reason for living cannot be to work. Work is the modern day hunting. As Neanderthal man would set out on a hunt for his prey to bring home food for the family, so follows the premise that this is all work is. It`s just that the prey and rewards are more sophisticated. We are no longer happy to exist on whatever we can track, kill or grow. The more rewards that we can gather are commensurate with our ability to hunt. The great hunters must`ve been both strong and cunning, armed with guile and an unbending will to not come home empty handed. Modern day hunters can be armed with these same traits but also with education and the ability to show their prowess in different ways for somewhat differing rewards. The end result is still the same though. The spoils of the hunt!
This in turn cannot be the reason for life. The art of the hunt or achievement that is directly linked to these type of rewards only enable us to keep pace with others around us who are desperately trying for the same thing, and allows us to judge our progress against others.
Pro-creation.
Can this really be the reason for life? To give life to another. Although this may be rewarding for so many people, this again is so inextricably linked to the first reason for life that they are almost one. To give life means to provide life. To provide life you must provide for that life to enable it to flourish and grow. To do this you must hunt and yadee yadee ya!
I have a feeling we have been here before.
We have a natural instinct to nurture, to teach to rear. But can this be the meaning of our lives? To provide another life with the means to hop on the very same merry go round, one in which we do not truly understand ourselves and so it starts all over again.
Sometimes you get the feeling that somebody is watching us waiting for us to do something fundamentally different, but then groan in despair when all we do is the same over and over again, hoping that the next generation will actually do something special!
We wake, we work and we breed, where we must now work even harder as we have dependents which need us. Where they will then grow up and repeat our mistakes all over again. Pro-creation can only be about hope, and what our offspring will bring to the world. Most of the time what we want for our offspring is to have a fulfilling and pleasant life. Not many parents hold the thought of their child having a challenging life in high regard, irrespective if this child could bring something of value to the world. We want the best and dare we say it, we want the easiest path for them to grasp all the things that they want. So can this really be the meaning of life or just a means to extend life in our form after we have gone. A walking talking legacy as it were.
To exist. To experience.
I would like to think that we cannot be here for these reasons, unless this is just a bus terminal exchange on our way to other places. If this is the case I`m not certain what we are here to learn. Most of the learning that we are taught is based around solid or inanimate things. Maths, Grammar, Geography, Physics etc. These things seem to only have relevance in our current world or consciousness.
What of these teachings will be of value in wherever we might go next?
What will we take there from our experiences here. Maybe time spent with others, understanding the machinations of our thinking, our feelings and reactions. Depending on what or who we share our next stop with, these are the only things that seem to be of value elsewhere. Maybe that is who we are supposed to be. To learn about ourselves and others like us.
But can that really be the reason for living? So you can understand your neighbour on a higher level. To empathise with others loss, or even give comfort. These things still bring no greater purpose than to maintain the status and health of others. Like a Doctor who helps others heal, without larger purpose what is the reason for healing.
I thought that this topic would help me think about why we are here, but it has done the opposite. We seem to be here to consume and change the world for better or worse. But for what reason?
Maybe we are mice in an experimental maze where there isn’t an exit. We are mere entertainment for others. A study for the improvement of another species. It all sounds a bit worrying and end of the world like. But I like so many others struggle to find any greater purpose for ourselves.
All of the world`s other creatures have some purpose. Either to feed us, entertain us or make us feel better when we save them from the extinction we inevitably caused.
I can only presume that we are the same. Why should we be any different to all of the other creatures that inhabit this world around us. Are we being watched and tested by something greater than ourselves. If so for what purpose?
Maybe nothing more than the fact that we are here and that we must be observed like lab rats. We don’t need to be conserved just yet as we breed like rabbits and there`s billions of us. Maybe we`ll only know the truth when we are threatened with extinction and then we will be valued and conserved and nurtured again.