Purpose of Life

 PURPOSE OF HUMAN LIFE

What is the purpose of human life? This question has troubled thinkers and philosophers for ages.

In the olden ages, one's commitment to family, king, and God were considered as the purpose of life. But with the rise of individualism, post the Enlightenment era, identifying one's purpose in life has become a lot more complicated.

Postmodernists and Existentialists reject the view that life has a predefined goal and objective. According to them, how we emotionally, intellectually, and physically react to our external circumstances and events, forms the essence of life. Life is lived from moment to moment and there is no overall purpose that could govern the entire life span of a human being.

So does human life really have a purpose? This leads to further questions.

Is there a purpose for humanity as a whole and how does an individual human's purpose fit in this overall purpose of humanity.

Is the purpose of a human being preordained or does the individual human being himself give purpose and meaning to his own life?

Are there both physical and mental aspects to this purpose of human life?

Let us first look into what could be the possible purpose of humanity as a whole.

In this giant universe with billions of stars and planets, why Earth is the only planet that supports life. The odds must be very high, with a probability of one in a trillion just to support life. Further, how conscious life forms have evolved on the  Earth. The chances must be even more difficult. Finally, how has a thinking human life form evolved on Earth? All this could be either simply dismissed as a purely random act or something driven by a purpose.

Of all the life forms on Earth, human beings are the only ones gifted with creativity. Our immediate ancestors (apes)  in the evolution process, can at the most create only low-level tools made out of stone and wood. On the other hand, human beings have created amazing engineering structures, complex scientific theories, probing philosophical ideas, masterly literature, and art forms.

Human beings are not only endowed with thinking but are on the verge of creating their own version of thinking machines. In a few hundred or thousand years human beings may start inhabiting other planets and stars.

Now one can argue not all human beings are endowed with creative abilities. Only a few of them seem to drive creative action through their contribution in science, philosophy, engineering, and art. Most of us live a pretty normal and boring life.  

Imagine humanity as a giant machine with a purpose to create something. Some of us are the critical parts like engine, piston, generator, etc. Let us identify them as the critical parts of this humanity machine with a major contribution towards the creative output. Others could be some minor parts like screws and bolts. The contribution of these screws and bolts may not be obviously evident, but still important. In a very indirect and less perceptible way, most human beings (bolts and screws) contribute to the creative purpose of humanity.

So the goal for humanity is to achieve the collective supreme creative potential.

This seems to be the most optimistic view of humanity. But so far we only dealt with the external aspects of the meaning of life. But as a human being, we also have an inner life. Our conscience, moral values, feelings, joy, and suffering all constitute this rich inner life.

It is quite obvious that happiness is the purpose of human life. But attaining happiness at all moments is always elusive to us. Even if we are happy now, we easily get bored and aim for new goals to be happy. This never-ending pursuit of happiness could itself lead to grief and sadness. Buddhism wants to cut this cycle by proclaiming that desire is the root of all misery. So if eternal happiness is the purpose of human life, it is like a mirage and not attainable. Life always has bursts of happiness and sorrow. 

But we cannot simply dismiss the pursuit of happiness for the above reason. Because desire gives vitality to our life. In the pursuit of happiness, we discover ourselves. The suffering and pain we undergo in this process help us to become better individuals. So we can replace the pursuit of happiness with the purpose of inner /moral perfection as the ultimate goal of human life. 

The biggest challenge for humanity to achieve the ultimate creative potential could be human beings themselves. Because the entire human race has to work in collective collaboration to achieve its ultimate purpose. For this we as human beings not only be creative, but also empathetic and caring to our fellow human beings. Only such a human race can collaborate effectively.

To summarize, realizing the ultimate creative potential and inner perfection can be pointed out as the goal of humanity. Within this broader context, each individual human being can find his own purpose. Serving humanity, and becoming a scientist or an author are all different choices given to a human being to identify his purpose. 

Is this purpose preordained or does the person himself attribute this purpose to his life? Even if we assume that purpose to our life is pre-ordained it is difficult to prove.  Because for this one needs to answer deeper philosophical questions like the existence of God, is our life is governed by determinism or free will, etc. Without getting into all these discussions, if we can simply accept the broader purpose of humanity is to realize its supreme creative potential and attain ultimate moral perfection, then finding our own role within this broader context could be the most uplifting view that could help our human race.