Why ‘Why’?
The paradox of reasoning
“Why?”
A word, a sentence, a whole question in itself.
No matter what we do, what others do, or what happens to us, we always ask, “Why?” If we see someone working hard without a “why,” we might think he is insane. Destroy a person’s “why,” and all motivation disappears.
As Thomas Ligotti said:
“Why” is a question no animal can ask, and no matter how much wisdom is within it, it will forever be the domain of man alone.
This shows how asking “Why?” makes us different from animals. But is everything that makes us different from animals good for us? After all, many diseases, especially mental ones, are unique to humans. What if asking this “Why?” in everything is just another human disease?
We can’t find it out on the surface only. We need to dig deeper.
Let’s Go Deeper
The problem is that, even though the “why” question is so sacred to us, we hardly go deeper with it. We usually apply it to one or two layers only.
However, once we start questioning deeper levels of “Why,” we will reach one common conclusion.
Why eating?
- Why did you eat the apple? Because I was hungry
- Why satisfy your hunger? Because that feels right.
I’m not just an animal. I do many things that animals don’t do. For example, I do painting as well.
Why painting?
- Why do you paint? Because it is my passion.
- Why is it your passion? Because I enjoy it.
- Why do you enjoy it? Because it helps me to express myself.
- Why expressing yourself is important? Because that feels right.
But what about those things that I don’t do for myself? Like, charity.
Why charity?
- Why did you give money to the beggar? Because he was in need
- Why was fulfilling his need important to you? Because I care for people who are in need
- Why do you care for the people in need? Because that feels right
All our actions are based on feelings only. These can be morally acceptable, like fulfillment and compassion, or ethically unacceptable, like jealousy and greed.
You might say:
I don’t always go by feelings. I hate apples, but I eat them for my health.
Okay, let’s ask again:
- Why did you eat the apple? To remain healthy
- Why being healthy is important? To achieve my goals and live a fulfilled life.
- Why achieving your goals is important? Hmm.. that feels right.
The point is that we always act based on feelings. These feelings change with knowledge and experience, but at the end of the day, we do everything just to feel right.
Once we reach this “right feeling,” we stop digging deeper. But if this “why” is so sacred, why don’t we apply “why” to these feelings as well?
After all, why is feeling right important?
Fault In Our Design
‘Feeling right’ seems so obvious that questioning it feels absurd. Isn’t it enough that I feel good doing something? Why need another reason?
From our point of view, this is also kind of right. Our design wasn’t meant for us to question these feelings. We didn’t come up with an instruction manual for right and wrong. These feelings are our in-built guide.
Like, rather than having specific instructions-
- to keep our distance from heights, we felt fear;
- to take care of our nutrition requirements, we feel hungry;
- to reproduce for multiply, we enjoy orgasm;
- to sleep, we feel tiredness and
- to stay hydrated, we feel thirsty.
It’s like training an elephant for stunts in a circus. Trainers don’t explain the importance of these stunts or give detailed instructions. The elephant learns to avoid the stick and seek food. The elephant doesn’t understand the business of the circus; it just follows simple cues of avoiding discomfort and seeking rewards.
But does that mean discomfort and reward are the end of the story? If not, why should our story end with feelings? Just because the elephant cares about pain and pleasure doesn’t mean that’s all there is. So, no matter how absurd it may feel to an elephant, don’t you think it’s important for him to understand the whole business behind the stick and food?
The Whole Business Of Circus
Some curious elephants have already written excellent books on this “business of circus,” i.e., the business behind all these feelings. Here is a quote from one of them:-
Emotions are mechanisms that set the brain’s highest-level goals. They have been shaped by natural selection because they aided our ancestors in surviving and reproducing in the environments in which they evolved. — Steven Pinker
So, no matter what kind of feeling we are talking about, they serve two common purposes: surviving and reproducing.
You may say you do many things daily without thinking about surviving and reproducing. Again, it’s similar to an elephant saying:
I don’t train for a circus. I only go for food and avoid being beaten up by a stick. That’s all I do.
No matter what he says, the motive behind this pain and pleasure is the circus only.
But what about the feelings for which we sacrifice our lives? What about soldiers, lovers, and revolutionaries who have sacrificed their lives? How did their feelings lead them to death rather than survival?
Feelings are like tools that have evolved to enhance our chances of survival. But like any tool, they don’t need to be used only for the purpose they were built. Just as we might use a toothbrush to scrub bathroom tiles, that doesn’t change the primary purpose of the toothbrush.
So, no matter what we do, the final purpose is always the same: to survive and reproduce.
If you dig for “Why” until you get the ultimate answer, you probably would also get the same answer:-
Here is an example where I’m asking chatGPT for the final purposes until it concludes. You can see that no matter what question I ask, the final purpose is somehow linked to our existence only.
The Age-Old Question
If our inquiry concludes that everything we do is for our own existence, wouldn’t it be obvious to apply “Why” to that as well? After all, why is survival necessary? Why this whole business of circus? What is the purpose of our species? I’m not sure if that rings a bell in your mind, but it is the same age-old question:-
“What is the purpose of life?”
You may wonder why I didn’t come to this question directly. Why did I write so many sections just to get here?
The problem is that we consider this age-old question a means of intellectual curiosity only. We don’t realize that whatever we are doing — you reading this article, me writing it, or others minding their own business — have just one reason. And that comes down to this age-old question.
So, until we answer this question, everything we do is meaningless.
Let’s Answer It
You may think that answering this age-old question is very difficult. After all, many philosophers have tried to answer it. Everyone has their own opinions.
But you’ll see an inherent assumption when you see this question with an open mind. To understand that assumption, let’s first look at the meaning of “purpose” itself.
It may look obvious, but the dictionary definition of “purpose” is “the reason for which something is done or created.” This means whenever we ask about the purpose of something, we suggest that someone built it, and that too with specific intentions in mind.
For example, we have built cars for commuting, pens for writing, refrigerators for stores, etc. And that is what their purposes are.
When we ask, ‘What is the purpose of life?’ we have inherently assumed that someone has built life with specific intentions. So, to get to the purpose of life, we need to find our designer and know his intentions. After all, why did he put so much effort into building everything? Is it just for his fun?
If you believe in Evolution, then this question would be:
“Who is behind the Evolution process, and what are his intentions?”
But wait. Isn’t Evolution just based on some non-living principles only? Isn’t the blind forces of natural selection and mutations responsible for Evolution? If that is so, we don’t have any creator at all. And once we accept that there is no creator behind anything, wouldn’t it be obvious that life has no purpose?
And, if you’re one of those who doesn’t believe in Evolution. One who thinks that there is a designer and he had specific intentions behind it. You may call him God, and you may worship him as well. Even then, this conclusion doesn’t change. We would just need to apply this “Why” for one more step: “Why God?” We would probably get the same answer: “God just exists. There is no purpose behind it.”
So, no matter if you’re a theist or atheist, one thing is clear: life doesn’t have any purpose.
It is not that hard for us to understand. We are aware of multiple things without anyone’s specific intention, like weeds in the garden, dust on books, different shapes of clouds, etc. We never ask the reason behind these. We all know that these are the results of some random causes.
So, why do we ask the reason behind life?
So, What Now?
We started by clearly observing the importance we have given to the’ Why’ question. Then we realized that no matter where we start, if we dig deep enough, at the end of this ‘Why’ rabbit hole, we will find that age-old question: ‘What is the purpose of life?’
Then we saw how asking about the purpose of life is the same as asking, “Why dust on books?” We can just say that Life just exists with no intentions behind it. And if your line of questioning took some unexpected turns and went in a different direction, it would still stuck at some point where you’ll have to say:- it just exists, like every other thing.
It is not that hard to understand once we have a look around us. What do you think is the purpose of animals, water, fire, air, and soil around us? Don’t they just exist?
The problem is that we are habitual in defining the purpose of everything as per our own use. Like:-
- sun is there to give us energy
- trees are there to give us oxygen and shades
- animals are there for food and
- mountains for vacations…
This is the height of self-centeredness. We fail to see that everything is part of a holistic system, and each part, including humans, plays a role in maintaining the balance of nature.
Do you think the purpose of humans is to provide oxygen to trees or organic waste to microbes? No, right? Then how can it be the other way around?
Nothing is there to fulfill its final purpose. Everything just works according to its own nature. Water doesn’t flow so that it can reach us. It flows because of its nature. And if you ask, “Why the nature of water is like this?” and go deep down in the rabbit hole of “Why,” you’ll finally get stuck at some point where you’ll get an answer, “It is what it is.”
Does it mean we should stop our curiosity and live like a dead animal?
No, never. If you observe, whenever we ask “why,” we’ve already ceased all the wondering. Asking why is another way of saying, “I already know what the thing is. I just want to know how to use it for my purpose.”
It is like “Saw a flower, figured out its purpose, pluck it, crush it, make scent out of it.” Do you think any curiosity was involved in this process?
I think no one can explain it better than Osho:-
If you can ask why and the question can be answered, then life will not be a mystery. If the why can be answered, then life cannot be a mystery. Life is a mystery because no why is relevant.
