Purpose

[Silent3]

pur⋅pose /ˈpɜrpəs/ noun

1. the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.
   
2. an intended or desired result; end; aim; goal.
   
3. determination; resoluteness.
   
4. the subject in hand; the point at issue.
   
5. practical result, effect, or advantage: to act to good purpose.

A recurrent theme in discussions about religion and spirituality is the idea of purpose. Wondering what the purpose of our life is, what the purpose of the universe is. Needing a purpose. Being sure that there has to be a purpose. Wanting to fulfill a purpose. A belief in an Ultimate Purpose, or at least a desire to know if there is such a thing.

One thing that strikes me about the idea of purpose, something I haven't heard discussed much, is that the idea of purpose is very contextual. Without a particular context in mind, the question, "What is the purpose of this?" doesn't have a clear answer.

Imagine a computer, perhaps the one you're using now. Is the purpose of that computer to read Democratic Underground? Maybe you wouldn't want to think of reading DU as the purpose for your computer, but it is at least a purpose. Is the computer for sending e-mail? Viewing porn? Playing games? Trading stocks? From the perspective of the company that manufactured your computer, is the purpose of a computer the things customers do with their computers, or is the purpose simply a way of making money from people who want to buy computers?

Is purpose inherent or situational? A very old and broken computer might find purpose as a doorstop, a purpose which can also be served by something far less elaborately constructed like a brick, or something like a rock which isn't constructed at all.

Purposes form chains and loops, because every goal can be viewed as both an end and a means to a different end. What's the purpose of buying a car? To be able to drive to work. What's the purpose of going to work? To make money. What's the purpose of making money? Well, among other things, being able to buy things like cars.

If purposes can be varied and situational and contextual for computers and cars and bricks and rocks, what about people? Does it really make much sense to think there is some One True Purpose each person has? If there were such a thing, would it necessarily be a immoral or unsatisfying to find another purpose anyway? Do you imagine a deity who gives people both free will and purpose, where the former can undo the latter? If so, what is the purpose of free will?

Does a god have a purpose, or is a god only a source of purpose? If we talk about a god having a "plan", is the plan a purpose unto itself, or a means to another purpose? Does the desire to help fulfill God's Plan stem from concern the Plan might otherwise fail, or from fear that those who hinder the Plan won't do so well as those who help? If the Plan is fulfilled, then what?

When we look at something like a computer, and see how elaborate its design and construction are, we take that a sign that the computer has a purpose. Why would anyone go through all of that trouble, all of the effort and expense, if there was no purpose in mind? The situational purpose of the computer may end up, many years after it was first built, as being a doorstop, but that's not what it was designed and built for in the first place.

Can that type of thinking really be applied, however, to people, animals, plants, and the universe in which all of those things live? I've certainly heard people say things like, "I just can't believe that all of this has no purpose!"

For myself, I have no trouble accepting the idea of a purposeless life or purposeless universe, apart from whatever contextual purposes we might create for ourselves. It doesn't make any sense to me to apply human concepts of effort and expense to biology or cosmology. I don't think humans are even capable of conceiving of a context in which whether the universe will exist or not is a decision to be made. That context probably makes no sense anyway, an attempt to apply human concepts of time and existence where they don't belong. If the application of human concepts of time and existence are ill-suited to that conceptual realm, there's not much hope for ideas like effort and expense. Nevertheless, I get the feeling that a lot of people look at the world around them with a thought that goes something like, "Boy, somebody must have put a lot of time and effort into making this place!"

Maybe it is possible for humans to understand these things, but I don't think we're anywhere close to being there yet. I'm certainly not. In the meantime, I'm satisfied to say "I don't know" when I reach the point where information is limited and human thought doesn't seem up to the task, and leave it at that. I certainly don't feel the universe is obligated to satisfy human desires for answers or for a sense of purpose. When people get mystical about these things, I wish they'd remember that "mystical" comes from the word "mystery", and a mystery is something you don't know, not a shortcut to knowing what you haven't figured out some other way.

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. The purpose of life is to live

I don't see any need to dig deeper than that.

[rurallib]

2. I would say preservation of the species is our purpose

beyond that it is all pretty much fluff.

[rrneck]

3. Since we

seem to be able to employ among all species the seemingly unique trick of a theory of mind, might that empathy trick put us in the position of an arbiter of the evolutionary utility of other species as well? We seem to be behaving as if it does.

[Occam Bandage]

8. Okay. So how about I take a sequence of the human genome, launch it into space, and then nuke Earth

once it's safely gone. Humanity will therefore survive forever (plus or minus), and I've removed any chance of a rogue human accidentally wiping out the human species, or of evolution rendering it obsolete.

[Silent3]

4. I don't see living as much of a purpose.

Oh, I like doing it, and hope to keep doing it a good while longer. As long as I'm alive I'd like to find some decent balance between enjoying my own life and making life better for others.

I just don't see life itself as very purposeful, living is just something that I do, a context in which to find and create purposes.

[tinrobot]

5. I live a porpoise driven life.

My pet porpoise Skippy tows me on my raft to wherever I need to go.

[Uncle Joe]

6. I believe purpose to be a survival instinct.

Taking your #3 determination definition in to account.

The need for a feeling of purpose or belonging to something larger than ourselves to drive us on. A toddler is most exited when they can show off something they've learned to a parent. There may be many reasons for this excitement but I believe a satisfied feeling of purpose to be one of them.

I imagine this feeling of purpose was a motivating factor in driving early humans to leave their caves to hunt for food, to paint the animals on their cave walls and to bury their dead with the decease-d's possessions for the afterlife.

While you may have reached a certain level of being comfortable living without purpose, I believe some people couldn't do it and would commit suicide, while it may not always be the case. I can't think of any examples of depression and the feeling of not having any purpose as not being inextricably linked.

To this end, I believe it is instinctual for the vast majority of humanity to continue seeking purpose in something larger than them selves. When culture or society eliminates the old beliefs, new beliefs must take their place, in this regard religion evolves.

If seeking purpose is instinctual, could it be this was programmed in to our DNA, that brings us to the question of whether by accident, design or accidental design? Of course today we can't program, (at least that I'm aware of) for computers to seek purpose, but if we could and they couldn't find it I imagine a lot more of them would quickly end up as doorstops.

[Meshuga]

7. Purpose is something we create for ourselves

I say my life has a purpose but it is merely a purpose that I give to life. It is a purpose that I create.

At least that is the way I see it.

[and-justice-for-all]

9. Our purpose is the same as it is with all other life on Earth...

the continuation of DNA.