@Merry Andrew,
Merry Andrew wrote:
manored wrote
there would be no point in there being a planet or life in it without man
Really? Then what was the point of the planet all those billions of years before anything vaguely resembling a human being appeared less than one million years ago? Was it all just prep for the appearance of this stupendous super-predator we call homo sapiens? If you really believe that, then what's the point of all those other apparently uninhabited planets? That's egocentrism run rampant. (Not to menton that's one of the dumbest posts ever on this or any other thread. Way to go, manored.)
So what are you saying??? That we are the point??? That we are not the point??? Other life???
Life is meaning, and it does not matter what exists anywhere, because we are the ones who witness, even at a distance, and find value, and a point is simply a value, and a meaning... The fact is, that no people equals no point, and the only reason the past of our planet has a point is because we are there to chalk it up... We may see stars in the night sky that have already winked out or nova'ed... What is their point except as ambiance for the drama of our existence???
Didn't Schopenhaur say: The world dies with me??? Or: The world is my idea... Sure, it may still be there without our witnessing it, without conceiving of it, and by doing so, give it meaning.... No life equals no meaning...