This article is classified "Real"
Author's note: This article is not intended to offend anybody, and is
merely a theory, albeit not necessarily fully formed, of existence. The
author is happy to discuss any of the points raised in this article, and is
also open to new ideas.
But is there a point at all? "A point in what?" I hear you ask. Well,
generally speaking, a point in everything; why are we here? What are we
doing? How did the Conservatives regain power in 1992 [1]?
For many there has to be some overall meaning for everything and for their
individual lives to have effective meaning within it. The theory being
that if they have no reason to be where they are, they've no reason to be
doing anything. Another school of philosophy states that the general
purpose is to exist; to be. Hence, the survival of any being aware enough
to pursue it, is their purpose.
The third approach is to combine the two, obtaining a unified theory that
states, to a greater of lesser effect, that:
a) There is some divine purpose; and
b) To find it, I must kill everyone else.
This has been expressed through various religions in the past, and can
still be found in many modern philosophies. This, of course, stems from
primitive instincts; the prime motivation of creatures who have no ability
to think and assess their world as it is. Those are the creatures who are
the dedicated followers of fashion [2].
Looking at creation as a whole, a lot of people can't help voicing the
typical, and therefore agonisingly predictable, thought that it can't all
just be an accident. In reply to this, it is possible to state that if it
wasn't an accident, it wouldn't be in the first place. Read it again; it
does actually make sense.
Stated basically, theoretically-speaking, it is likely for one person to
stand on a mountain on the planet Earth, look into the sky towards the
single moon, and exclaim that he or she believes that there must be some
purpose to it all. It is equally as likely that one and a half green
furry balls will stand on a crater on a geographically totally-dissimilar
planet, stare into the sky at the moons and exclaim exactly the same
thing. The point is that in theory, either can exist, both can exist, or
neither can exist; the passage of history will determine which is the case.
In fact it is more than a little arrogant for anyone to claim that on this
single planet, they have been chosen for any divine purpose that is
universally applicable, or at least denies the rest of the universe. The
mere idea that the Earth is somehow special in this respect, stems back to
the theory that the planet is at the centre of the universe; something that
has since been disproved.
We could indeed be the only form of life in the entire universe, or every
planet could have some form of life, or at least the potential to support
some form of life, or somewhere in between. The initial process of
evolutionary life, creation, generally begins as an accident, and is just as
likely to go one way as the other, in terms of survival or extinction. Put
more simply, the human race were just as likely not to evolve as evolve, and
the same thing is just as likely to, or to have, happened on every other
planet in existence. If we are the only ones out there, we are not special,
we are lucky [3].
It should also be stated that even if there is no real "meaning" to life in
general, that doesn't mean that life itself has no individual meaning;
things are not as bleak as they have been painted. For many, life is what
you make it; you make your own meaning. To define a purpose for yourself
is the most difficult thing to do, especially without guidance. Society is
generally a good, or at least consistent, guide to how you might do this.
We all have to survive and live together, so any purpose must in some way
be associated with this. This is not strictly-speaking true, in fact. Some
might say that life is about learning, discovering, and understanding, if
not the universe [4], then their own mind, their person. Alternatively,
your purpose might just be to survive, in which case, you'll do what the
hell you like.
Society might say, "We need you." You can either become a part of society
or tell it to go to hell. If you join society, you can become an integral
part of it, and therefore an overall strategy to survive, to prosper, to
expand, to discover and all sorts of things you couldn't have a hope of
doing on your own. If you tell it to go to hell, you shouldn't be surprised
if it says the same to you next time you ask for something [5].
In the end, you're going to do whatever you instinctively feel like doing,
whether that is watching the television, reading a book, listening to some
form of music or following politics. A lot of people will look into the
universe and see an infinite number of possibilities, with so much so to
discover and to learn about; that is one meaning of existence. Personally,
I'm going to go and get a cup of tea because I'm thirsty.
[1] I can't answer that one without offending a significant proportion of
the population of Great Britain; there is a time and a place for
everything.
[2] Well, not quite. Some will blindly follow what everyone else
follows for various reasons, and sometimes the reason is that they
don't have the intelligence to decide what to do for themselves. This
is not always the case.
[3] Or unlucky. Depends on how you look at it really.
[4] Or at least the part of it you have access to.
[5] This is inevitable if you're going to survive. Unless, of course,
you're too proud to do so, in which case, your survival chances are
significantly reduced. Though in a civilised society they might help
you whether you want help or not.