So what exactly is the point of it all then?

[Thinkingthesethoughts]

Life? What are we here for?

I’m not depressed, just having a midweek musing while ill at home on the sofa.
If it’s just to reproduce and pass our genes on, how does that explain infertility?
Unless we have occupations that make a huge difference in people’s lives, or change the course of history somehow, how are we making any difference?

Why do you feel we’re here?

Why is it funny 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Wellingtonspie Those were your words…right?

Or it might have been that her husband was incompatible with her eggs…..

@Wellingtonspie how do you explain the fact that most people who have IVF have healthy children, and a lot of those who conceive naturally do not?

Or perhaps evolution explains the benefits of altruism, as most famously outlined in The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.

Well, you obviously don't.

You make god sound like a reluctant husband who says he'll put a shelf up in the bathroom but just hasn't got round to it yet. But instead of the outcome being nowhere to put the cotton buds, your god's reluctance to act just yet means unimaginable human suffering, calamity, disasters, disease and war.

It's no wonder so many people have decided to LTB.

To feed domesticated cats.

That is all.

All cat lovers will obviously surely agree with you. Absolutely, of course this is fine, but I think there is always a bit more to life than this, at least for me, anyway 😅🙃

If nature didn't want birds to have nests, it wouldn't have given them the ability to make them.

If nature didn't want IVF or for premature babies to survive, it wouldn't have given humans the intellect to make such things possible.

Parents create life so you'd have to ask them what they think the point is. They're basically bored and want to kill a couple decades of their own life and/or fill a void would be my guess and unfortunately nature gave them that power. Then their offspring get to the same age and do the same thing, ad nauseum.

If nature didn't want birds to have nests, it wouldn't have given them the ability to make them.

If nature didn't want IVF or for premature babies to survive, it wouldn't have given humans the intellect to make such things possible.

In principle I agree with your underlying point but nature doesn't want anything. If humans got better with the idea that what is, is, we would all be a lot happier.

It’s a theory, not a fact. No one really knows. Yet.

Sure, but let's put it this way - there is more evidence of chance than there is of Ganesh. And I haven't personally been atop of Olympus mountain but I am fairly certain Zeus doesn't have a palace there.

The way I see it is that, unless you have a belief in a god, we are all here by a fluke of evolution.

If you follow a religion, I presume that will give people a reason for being here. Otherwise, there isn't a reason. We're here by chance and what we do with our lives is determined by our own personal values and belief systems.

Some people want to make a lot of money and acquire 'stuff' and that is their reason for being here.

Some people want to raise children well, to enjoy their company as adults and feel a sense of satisfaction at a job done well.

Some people want to create and contribute to the world and leave a legacy for others to enjoy and enjoy the sense of satisfaction that brings.

Some people want to help others and are less interested inaterial 'success'. Their meaning and satisfaction in life comes from knowing they have made the world a better place for others.

Some people want to theorise and understand and find pleasure in intellectual pursuits amd that brings meaning to life for them.

M0st people just want to live their lives 'well' (whatever that means to them) and feel a sense of personal satisfaction for them.

I don't believe we have any greater or higher reason for being here than to just do what we do and we will hopefully enjoy it along the way without causing (too much) harm to others.

Science and selection. They look at cells under the microscope and grade them by quality. They then discard any cells below a certain grade.
Where science comes up against nature is preventing miscarriage which in a lot of cases is a process by which the body discards (sorry, there is no nice way of putting it) "suboptimal" genes. I have an example of that in my own family. One high risk pregnancy with hospitalisation in early stages to prevent miscarriage - child born with a progressive genetic condition and is quadriplegic by the age of 4. Another family member on bed rest for 4 months with multiple hospital admissions - child with learning disability. Maybe coincidence, maybe not.

This education for the soul, how do we avoid becoming bitter with life's education knocks, bumps and unfair experiences?? Genuine question, if anyone has an answer.

We are so interconnected that pretty much everyone will have had a small part to play in the big stuff. Even if by several degrees removed. Just existing means we alter the course of history. I don't mean that's WHY we're here, that's chance. I mean we all have an impact and if any of us didn't exist it would be different for everyone else.

No it isn't evidence of a creator. There's an evolutionary advantage to altruism - see that chapter in The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins. That book enabled me to understand that our existence doesn't depend on us having a creator.

'sadly' that is, in fact, reality!

It’s all a bit pointless isn’t it. The worst thing about it is that we have invented drugs to keep people alive longer.

I don't find my life pointless at all, and mostly enjoy it. Though there are ups and downs. But there is always something in the world that interests me.

For me, it's by keeping a positive mindset and choosing to balance out the hard stuff and challenges by also acknowledging and celebrating all the good stuff.

Being intentional about finding joy in the little things, practising gratitude and planning things to look forward to - that give me hope and a sense of purpose.

Remembering that life's knocks and bumps are temporary - that when things might feel hard right now, it won't last and better times will happen. They might be temporary too and more knocks might come, but the cycle repeats itself and nothing is permanent.

I can't control some of the things that life throws at me, but I can control how I choose to respond. I can dwell on the fact that something is unfair and allow it to make me bitter - or I can choose to learn from it, let it go, move on and focus on the things I'm grateful for. I'm not suggesting it's easy and it takes time to process and heal from challenging situations, but it's always possible if you choose to think it so.

The evidence would show otherwise. None of my animals have ever tortured their young to death, for example, or destroyed their environment to consume above what they need. They operate in societies that well know right from wrong in how to function. It's an arrogant human perspective that thinks we gave some higher moral plane than animals. We don't.

Human beings innately understand when things aren’t right and aren’t fair. Any toddler’s outrage at some perceived injustice will confirm this.

I didn’t claim human beings all act morally. That’s ridiculous. But generally speaking most of us know the difference between things which are objectively right and wrong and those who don’t are suffering some sort of disorder.