Purpose of Life

Write4U said:
Yes, our main purpose is to stay alive as a species.
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I wouldn't call that a "purpose". It's more of a biological imperative, like eating and sleeping. I wouldn't call eating and sleeping "the purpose of life". As a "purpose" that's about as empty as "serving the creator".
 
sideshowbob said:
I wouldn't call that a "purpose". It's more of a biological imperative, like eating and sleeping. I wouldn't call eating and sleeping "the purpose of life". As a "purpose" that's about as empty as "serving the creator".
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The question is "what is the purpose of life" which is an abstraction and can only be addressed in the abstract, without attachment to sentient intention or choice.
I believe that one can make a persuasive argument that the term "biological imperative" identifies an ultimate natural utility or purpose, a mathematical chronology which is unalterable in function.

Using "serving the creator" can be a choice and changed to "disobeying the creator", but Life does not offer such a choice. Life's only purpose is life itself, IMO.
 
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Write4U said:
I believe that one can make a persuasive argument that the term "biological imperative" identifies an ultimate natural utility or purpose, a mathematical chronology which is unalterable in function.
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No, because nature and evolution don't have goals.
 
Not reproducing could be a personal survival mechanism, which would falsify a supposedly universal purpose.
 
w4U said,
I believe that one can make a persuasive argument that the term "biological imperative" identifies an ultimate natural utility or purpose, a mathematical chronology which is unalterable in function.
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spidergoat said,
No, because nature and evolution don't have goals.
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spidergoat said:
Not reproducing could be a personal survival mechanism, which would falsify a supposedly universal purpose.
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In that case the OP question is meaningless. It does not ask about a personal goal, it asks about "Purpose of Life"

My answer was in context of an impersonal and implacable natural imperative to procreate in order to assure continuation of a species. This is usually associated with Darwinian Evolution, combating Natural Selection for best adaption to extant natural conditions.
 
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sideshowbob said:
I wouldn't call that a "purpose". It's more of a biological imperative, like eating and sleeping. I wouldn't call eating and sleeping "the purpose of life". As a "purpose" that's about as empty as "serving the creator".
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What is the purpose of "sleep"? Seems that 1/3 of our lives are spent sleeping with several important health benefits extending life of an organism.
Can we say that sleep has a definite naturally evolved purpose ?
The 9 Health Benefits That Occur During Sleep
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https://www.activebeat.co/your-health/the-9-health-benefits-that-occur-during-sleep/3/
 
spidergoat said:
Not reproducing could be a personal survival mechanism, which would falsify a supposedly universal purpose.
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And how much longer would you live not reproducing? Moreover, when you die, your DNA cannot be passed on, thus ending your bloodline altogether.
 
spidergoat said:
Self interest isn't necessarily bloodline interest.
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I agree, but self interest does not allow you to live longer. In addition, I read somewhere that a healthy sexlife actually allows one to live longer. Of course a healthy sexlife does not necessarily have to be for procreation, but it certainly imitates the act of procreation.
Thus the purpose of procreation has been fullfilled, albeit without result.

I have a female minpin dog who loves to hump a big neutered male cat. Riddle me that one...:tongue:
 
Write4U said:
The question is "what is the purpose of life" which is an abstraction and can only be addressed in the abstract, without attachment to sentient intention or choice.
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I would disagree. I would suggest that only sentient life - and possibly only sapient life - can have any concept of "purpose".
 
Write4U said:
What is the purpose of "sleep"? Seems that 1/3 of our lives are spent sleeping with several important health benefits extending life of an organism.
Can we say that sleep has a definite naturally evolved purpose ?
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We're talking about the purpose of life, not the purpose of sleep. A hammer has a purpose but it is not related to the purpose of life.
 
sideshowbob said:
We're talking about the purpose of life, not the purpose of sleep. A hammer has a purpose but it is not related to the purpose of life.
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What is the difference? If so, that renders the OP title and question meaningless.

IMO, Life is a self-organizing function (Hazen). It needs not be sentient. Therein lies the crux.

For my purpose of discussion, I was giving the word "purpose" the broadest possible abstract interpretation and meaning as a general "function" or "role".
Purpose, noun,
This noun also has a third meaning: "function, role, or use." The purpose of a fork, for instance, is to spear and scoop food from your plate, not to poke your little brother at the dinner table.
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https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/purpose

Thus the function (purpose) of Life is Life itself.
There never was sentient intent to create Life
 
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Place a flowering plant under stress and it will begin to bloom. What is the purpose in that?
Think about it.
 
spidergoat said:
The purpose of a flower is relative to the species. Relative to everything, there is none.
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Right, but why does it try to procreate when placed under stress? It doesn't know that blooming invites bees for pollination does it? It just does it.

The same way that many growth patterns in nature follow the Fibonacci sequence. This is not a sentient action, it is a result of millions of years of natural selection for efficiency in growth patterns.

And here "natural selection" is not an intentional act either, contrary to what the term "selection" implies.
se·lec·tion
[si- lek-sh uhn]
NOUN
1.
an act or instance of selecting or the state of being selected; choice.
2.
a thing or a number of things selected.
3.
an aggregate of things displayed for choice, purchase, use, etc.; a group from which a choice may be made: The store had a wide selection of bracelets.
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4. Biology. any natural or artificial process that results in differential reproduction among the members of a population so that the inheritable traits of only certain individuals are passed on, or are passed on in greater proportion, to succeeding generations.
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It procreates because it's parents did. I think it takes sentience to establish a purpose. Since there is apparently no universal sentience, there's no universal purpose.
 
spidergoat said:
It procreates because it's parents did. I think it takes sentience to establish a purpose. Since there is apparently no universal sentience, there's no universal purpose.
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I could agee with that, but we still have to explain what the evolutionary process is all about. It isn't random but probabilistic, because natural selection passively "selects" the best adapted to a particular environment.

IMO, it is all mathematical in essence (Tegmark) and may be compared to a pseudo-intelligence or pseudo-sentience and then it begins to make sense. To me anyway.....:)

And I have a powerful ally in this perspective by the name of Roger Penrose, at least as far as I can understand him...:D
If I do, Penrose proposes that the quantum function and the wave collapse produce and constitute a pseudo-sentient process and experience in and of itself. A pseudo-sentient living universe.

What is physics all about, if not physical interaction....:rolleyes:
 
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