Life, the universe and everything

(in response to a post on the purpose of life)
You ask about the purpose of life. As a humanist, I regard religion as folk tradition and folklore and I value science over traditions and belief when looking for answers. It doesn’t require religion to be a good person or to look for meaning and purpose. However, I urge you to read on to see why religion is not the answer.
Without reference to religion we see a universe that emerged from an apparently chaotic state into one which follows rules, many of which we now understand.
We see a solar system that also emerged form a somewhat less ordered state (cloud of dust and gas) into an ordered system of planets, orbits and a sun that emits energy. The solar system is predictable and we can predict tides, eclipses and planetary positions.
We see life that has emerged from a primordial soup with less complex molecules into molecules which can copy themselves, and through a process of evolution where the less successful are less likely to form the next generation then the more successful tend to predominate and ultimately, we get the life we see around us.
Religion is a belief system which irrespective of your views would only have emerged very late indeed in humans in the above three scenarios.
What does seem to be a pattern however, is increasing order and structure because of the rules of nature and evolution.
We also see this in legislation where legislation seeks to impose order and structure in order to benefit society as politicians see it.
When we look around we see some trends towards increasing order and structure which can lead us towards even more increasing order and structure. These can lead us to better outcomes if we make the right long-term decisions and we reduce or eliminate bad choices like evolution. We should not be complacent, however — the dinosaurs ruled the earth for a lot longer than us.
So, is love the answer? No. But one might expect that in a society of the future then of course there is love. So, it is part of the answer. So is kindness, fairness, trust, equality and above all wisdom so that we make good choices for those who come after us. Religion can bring understanding but it carries a lot of baggage and is slow to learn. Religion’s respect for equal rights is not an illustrious record.
When we look for a purpose to life — let us learn from those who have gone before, learn from those around us and from this knowledge make the wisest choices for today, the wisest choices for those who come after us and leave knowledge for those to use so they may do the same.
I hope that in seeking and making wise decisions you will find meaning, purpose and fulfilment.
Craig
