Why are we here?

[mztthewbry]

I'm not sure why human beings collectively thinks we're more valuable then other animals and that we're destined for our own human heaven. I dont understand why people value life so highly when overall there is more pain and suffering then there is happiness over a lifetime. Everything you cherish comes to and end eventually in one way or another and so do all the people you love. The world is an awful place so why do people believe it could be irrational to try to escape it?

 

[Ziggy]

We are here....



It will all come to an end one day but it's still amazing. I think the world is fine, it's just the people in it that are the problem.

People have done many bad things, but they've created great music and art, we've gone from being cavemen to building houses and writing posts on our laptops, we've achieved so much compared to other animal species. Yet other animals seem to be happier, all the cats and dogs I've met generally seem to be happy and content with the world they live in, so the problem is with us (as a species) and we need to sort ourselves out.

 

[may71]

I'm not sure why human beings collectively thinks we're more valuable then other animals

It's probably good for humans to be more humble and appreciate the value of the lives of animals more.

For me knowing that there is suffering in the world is part of what gives life meaning. I haven't got the universe figured out, but as long as the good and the innocent are suffering and I have the power to help them, I know it's my duty to help. The opportunity to make the suffering of the world at least a little bit less is something that I'm grateful for.

 

[Keeno]

*throws in his two pence* 😜

There are an estimated 2 trillion! galaxies in the observable universe, i don't know why people think they are the only life in the universe, humans are nothing special 🥱

There are probably other civilisations out there way more advanced than us and that's just in the Milky Way! 😬

 

[Aurelia]

I don't think we're alone in the universe either. There's way too much of it for us to be alone.

 

[LonelyHiker]

I think the world is fine, it's just the people in it that are the problem.

Beat me to it!

George Carlin sums it up beautifully in his "Save the Planet" bit.

Human beings are barely out of the jungle ...

From George Carlin's 2005 HBO special, "Life is Worth Losing"


Human beings will do anything, anything. I am convinced. That's why when all those beheadings started in Iraq, it didn't bother me. I took it right in stride. A lot of people here were horrified, "Whaaaa, beheadings! Beheadings!" What, are you f***ing surprised? Just one more form of extreme human behavior. Besides, who cares about some mercenary civilian contractor from Oklahoma who gets his head cut off? F*** 'em. F*** 'em . Hey Jack, you don't want to get your head cut off? Stay the f*** in Oklahoma. Stay the f*** in Oklahoma. They ain't cuttin' off heads in Oklahoma...... as far as I know.

But I do know this: you strap on a gun and go struttin' around some other man's country, you'd better be ready for some action, Jack. People are TOUCHY about that sort of thing.

And let me ask you this... this is a moral question, not rhetorical, I'm looking for the answer: what is the moral difference between cuttin' off one guy's head, or two, or three, or five, or ten - and dropping a big bomb on a hospital and killing a whole bunch of sick kids? Has anybody in authority given you an explanation of the difference? [Read: Israel and Gaza]

Now, in case you're wondering why I have a certain interest, or fascination let's call it, with torture and beheadings and all of those things I have mentioned, is because each of these items reminds me in life over and over again what beasts we human beings really are.

When you get right down to it, human beings are nothing more than ordinary jungle beasts. Savages. No different from the Cro Magnon people who lived twenty five thousand years ago on the Pleistocene plains, eatin' grubs off of rotten logs. No different. Our DNA hasn't changed substantially in a hundred thousand years. We're still operating out of the lower brain. The reptilian brain. Fight or flight. Kill or be killed.

We like to THINK we've evolved and advanced because we can build a computer, fly an airplane, travel underwater, we can write a sonnet, paint a painting, compose an opera. But you know something? We're barely out of the jungle on this planet. Barely out of the f***ing jungle. What we ARE, is semi-civilized beasts, with baseball caps and automatic weapons...

 

[LonelyHiker]

The world is an awful place

No, the world is a BEAUTIFUL place.....Homo sapiens are just collectively too stupid, greedy and selfish to comprehend (and cherish) that beauty...

As far as "finding meaning", I personally believe that that is an exercise in futility that will drive a person mad if they dwell on it. My suggestion is to read Camus' brilliant essay The Myth of Sisyphus.