"Why" not "how" we are here.

I am intersted in hearing what people think their purpose is.

Whether you believe in predestiny and divinity or you don't, I don't think that it's unreasonable to say that everyone feels some sense of "why they are here."

I am not interested in disscussion on....Creation vs Evolution, or Big Bang vs the great "I am."

Those are disscussions on "how" we are here, I wish to address "why."
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I was onced asked a question and I think it can reveal a great deal about a person.

"If you were presented to boxes, The first box has the answer to "how we are here," the second box has the answer to "why we are here..."

"Which box would you pick?"
"Which box would hold the greatest benifit to mankind?"

I'm relieved that you picked "why."

If you had to guess based on your experiance thus far in life, what would you say your purpose is? You're a divinity person, so you naturally believe (I assume) that your purpose is already decided but you are unaware of it and for that matter may never know?

C'mon, take a guess. There's no harm in being wrong on this question.

Based on my experiance thus far and the opportunities I have, I don't believe there is a purpose decided for me. I do believe it's my perogitive to find purpose.

I'm an Aerospace Engineer, so perhaps I'll make my life about bringing us a single footstep closer to the boundries of ever expanding universe.

I'm a writer, maybe I'll decide to try and inspire as many people as I can.

right now, I feel my purpose is to do as much as I possibly can. As a mentor of mine says: Live, Leran, Love, Leave a Legacy.

I'f I'm only here for a tiny fraction of enternity, I wish to leave at least one footprint.

I don't think that there is a cosmic "why". It simply is.

Personally, I think that my job on this earth is to leave it a better place for those who follow me. If I can move evolution along, in the tiniest way, then my years on this earth will have had a purpose.

If you believe in evolution, what makes you think you cannot move evolution forward?

Won't it happen automatically with or without your wanting it to?

How do you know what will and won't 'move evolution along' ?

What if the things you do to move evolution forward , actually do the opposite, because you don't know what direction evolution is going?

If evolution moves in the direction of making mankind extinct, then would you consider that 'leaving the world a better place'?

If not, then aren't you actually in the position of one who wishes to purposely hinder evolution's progress?

Real Life:

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If you believe in evolution, what makes you think you cannot move evolution forward?

Evolution is always moving forward.

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Won't it happen automatically with or without your wanting it to?

Of course, but perhaps I was waxing poetic. What I meant was that even to the tiniest degree, I want my life to have had a positive impact on this world.

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How do you know what will and won't 'move evolution along' ?

It has been happening all along, so my expectation is that it will continue.

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What if the things you do to move evolution forward , actually do the opposite, because you don't know what direction evolution is going?

I can only do what I can, based on my best knowledge and judgement.

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If evolution moves in the direction of making mankind extinct, then would you consider that 'leaving the world a better place'?

I am only concerned with a world populated by human beings. If evolution renders mankind extinct, it is beyond my control. Therefore, I am not concerned with that possibility.

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If not, then aren't you actually in the position of one who wishes to purposely hinder evolution's progress?

I don't understand what you are driving at with that question.

How can you say that you 'want to leave the world a better place' and at the same time say that you 'cannot have any impact on whether mankind survives or not' and therefore you do not even concern yourself with the possibility ?

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How can you say that you 'want to leave the world a better place' and at the same time say that you 'cannot have any impact on whether mankind survives or not' and therefore you do not even concern yourself with the possibility ?

real life- I have a very realistic concept of what I can and cannot do, and my sphere of influence.

I would pick the "how" box. I suspect the other one would be empty.

I would pick the "how" box. I suspect the other one would be empty.