It is surprising that we have an antonym for "purpose" viz. "purposeless" - and yet we are baffled by our own lack of purpose. Surely, that we have the word "purposeless" implies some things don't have a purpose. Why then can't we be among the things devoid of purpose? — TheMadFool
The reason why people are baffled is because "purpose" hasn't been clearly defined — Harry Hindu
After all, the universe would be just fine if it was composed of a bunch of rocks and clusters of random simple chemicals. — Braindead
I thought people already passed that waypoint; after all the difficulty seems to be not the definition of "purpose" but actually that it (purpose) is missing in our lives. — TheMadFool
Excellent. So a purpose is a manifestation of some goal?A purpose doesn’t imply that something was created on purpose. Things that just happen to exist by chance can still be put to a purpose, or serve a purpose.
A purpose is just what something is good for. So asking what the purpose of anything is, is asking what good can come about because of it. — Pfhorrest
I'm asking where the waypoint you passed is. If you can't define it, then how do you know you passed it? — Harry Hindu
I understand that life is simply the result of evolution, but there is a reason to everything and that is what the issue is. We can debate purpose, but in the end purpose is meaning given by sentient beings to a reason behind a phenomenon and any reason can be interpreted as a purpose. When I say the universe would be fine without life, I mean that there would be no noticeable detriment to the universe if life never existed. In that case, why life? What possible reasons are there for the evolution of life from simple chemicals? This is where the debate is and without solid evidence we can continue to take our passes at what the reason or reasons could/can be.
My pass was that the universe simply called for an energy consuming component in order to do something with energy, a byproduct of time. When I say the universe called, I mean that the universe naturally produces uses for any existence, basically cause and effect, thus with energy came life. — Braindead
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