Creationists and the Anthropic Principle tell us that the universe is here for us, conscious and sapient beings. We are its purpose. Well, OK. Maybe. Another, evolutionary point of view is that the universe exists as it does and we were lucky to evolve and adapt to existing conditions on this tiny speck of cosmic dust. Looking down at this dust beneath my feet, I find dirt. What is dirt, or soil, for? Well, we buy bags of the stuff to grow plants in, so the purpose of dirt must be to grow plants. But, in reality, soil exists because the earth's crust has been subjected to physical and chemical erosion, wearing the rock substrate down into this mixture of gravel, sand, silt and clay. Plants and other organisms have adapted to exploit this environment. Soil exists, and they have rooted themselves in it.
Now I fill in the blank with people: what are people for? Well, maybe we have been created by God for a purpose and His representatives, prophets, priests and kings, will tell us what that purpose is. Or, we evolved as very intelligent, social primates, communicating, grouping together in families, clans, tribes, villages, cities and states. We naturally socialize. We work and play, trade things, fight sometimes, and love each other sometimes. We have a complex set of traits and characteristics that help us adapt to our environment and survive, not necessarily a purpose.
But those prophets, priests and kings certainly give us purpose. Religions provide us membership in God's Kingdom and compel us to obey His laws and commandments, to live, act, speak, and think in a sanctified way, to pay our alms and offerings to the church, to proselyte, and to die in the service of God. Governments make us citizens and compel us to obey the laws of the state, to vote, pay our taxes, and to go to war, to kill and die for God, King, and Country.
And now there are new prophets, priests, and kings in corporations to tell us what our purpose is. We are consumers and must buy their goods and services. And we must get jobs with them, work as their wage-slaves to produce all the goods and services that we and our fellow consumers must buy. So we are exploited by corporations, by business and industry.
I am skeptical of the motivations of religions, governments, and corporations. Despite all those who tell us what our purpose is, I believe that people are adapting to the world, the country, the culture, and the economy we live in. We are all doing the best we can.
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