The Meaning of Life and the purpose of the Human Species

By

Ian Tripp

10/29/2019

            What is our purpose on Earth? Is it simply to perpetuate the species? To what end? Is it to advance in such a way as to alleviate as much suffering as possible, for as many people as possible? Suffering from physical affliction (hunger, abuse, disease, oppression, etc…) is something that, ideally, would not exist. In Western nations, most people are, by in large, not afflicted with physical suffering. Yes, people get diseases, become homeless, are murdered, etc. but these Western nations have the means to either prevent or alleviate these physical sufferings for the most part (whether they do it or not, is indicative of the benevolence or callousness of the voting population, who chooses their representatives, who then reflects the voters sentiment by passing budgets and laws to either meet the people’s needs or become complacent in their sufferings).

           

 Beyond physical sufferings (survival), when physical needs are met, the only source of suffering comes from within the mind. People in wealthy, safe nations anguish over income, family dynamics, marriages, body image, life after death, etc. People living in impoverished, corrupt nations do not have the luxury for such things, most people in these conditions are just trying to survive (not that they can’t think about such things, it’s just not that important when you don’t have food or are worried for the lives of family members). But when survival needs are met, we are free to indulge in things like art and entertainment, we have extra time to contemplate, and we have time to be bored. We, in the Western nations, are easily depressed because the threshold for fulfilling survival needs are easily met. This is not to say we would be happy if we were just surviving; we, as a species, evolved to best survive. We are cut off from our primordial nature, again this is not a bad thing, it’s just that we are not evolved enough to really know what to do beyond survival; we are left with a feeling like there is a hole in our soul, an inexplicable void, which is why drug addiction, overeating, binge-watching entertainment, is ubiquitous in Western nations. When we are surviving, we are present day-to-day. It is this day-to-day presence that is missing when we dwell on the past and future. Meditation can bring us back to the present moment…

           

 So we have our needs met, and now we are bored… So what’s next? Since time immemorial people have lived in hierarchal societies with distinct leaders above the general population. Leaders guided their people how to best survive (get food, weather the elements, defend against other tribes, etc). In modern times, with so many groups of people cooperating and mutually achieving all survival perquisites; the question is what’s next? World leaders are no longer the primary source for ensuring the survival of the group. Instead, we have a set of codified laws that transcends the temporal nature of a mortal leader. These laws are created by many people allowing all people to have their needs met, not just those at the top (some countries are more effective than others in this regard). With a leader and a group of lawmakers, we have accomplished the basic tasks of survival: food, shelter, medicine, etc (again, some countries are more competent in fulfilling these needs than others)… What is our purpose beyond surviving? This is the fundamental question that modern nations have been unable to answer.

            

World leaders are by definition the most powerful people, yet they are human. We humans have fragile egos and need to display our independently accumulated prowess and gains like a bird that collects shiny objects in its nest to attract a mate. So we accumulate gold, a house, cars, boats, etc. World leaders are in the best position to accrue such things. We will collect things insatiably. Even billionaires that give away their fortunes are still amassing like that bird; they collect good favor and praise, receive adulations and get books written about them. They accrue praise because they want to be remembered because after we triumph over day-to-day survival, we are left with time to contemplate our inevitable death and what will happen to humanity in the future. So we worry about our legacy and become motivated to do things that will transcend our mortality.

            

We worry about the future and act accordingly to mitigate unseen hardships. We are driven to accumulate money to survive today, tomorrow, and acquire things that we hope will be the remedy to our boredom and resolve the void in our lives (the post-survival anguishes). Is survival (food, shelter, procreation) and acquiring things (material, knowledge, legacy) the purpose of the human species? There is no objective purpose of life, so yes, for many people life is all about survival and acquiring things. This is where our leaders rise to the occasion and inspire us to reach for the stars. And yet, this is where they fail us. Beyond survival and acquiring things, our leaders have proven themselves to be utterly useless in this regard. Meditation can ground us to be present and mindful of day-to-day existence and can alleviate the pain of post-survival sufferings (this is what we can do as individuals). As a species, we must foster our scientific learnings and aim for the stars to become a spacefaring civilization, this what we must demand from our leaders; if they will not take charge and guide us forward in these efforts, then they are of no use to us and must be removed from power. Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life sums it up best: “life is what you make of it.”