Being an extrovert, I like to do my thinking out loud, in conversation with other like-minded individuals. Not having regular access to such individuals can be pretty crippling. That's what you get when you move to Hermitville. So when I have to ponder questions like the meaning of life, I have to find alternatives. This blog should do nicely...
(I should point out that I have been lost from this blog for a year now. I don't know how long this return will last, but I have some catching up to do. May as well start with a 'big' one.)
Those who are a bit closer to me, know that I have been wrestling with some pretty large philosophical and socio-economic issues of late - a 'paper' or series of essays for my own amusement on money and value systems. So I've had some lofty thoughts running around in my head.
Last week, a former colleague (now getting into the motivational coaching market) posed his new trademark question to me: "
What do you think your purpose is?" I suppose the timing of the question is everything. I wondered if I could come up with an answer. I stalled by asking him his. Of course, being in the business, he had a nicely prepared and rehearsed response, involving helping others to discover
their true purpose, etc. Not helpful. Taking over his laptop, I called up my web site, hoping that my mission or vision statements would help. They held him off for a while, but I was still not convinced that his question had been answered. The seed, however had definitely been planted.
What began to emerge was a more empirical, objective answer than I expected. After all, it would be easy to make up some answer that suited my personal perspective, but being only one of a few billion people, surely there must be some common thread to connect all of those purposes together.
Those of you who recall my earliest posts to this blog a year and a half ago, might also recall that I am a beekeeper (among many other things). So it was natural to simplify the question first by turning to my small winged workers: What is the purpose of a bee? Hmmm...
The purpose of a bee can have a few perspectives in the natural world. I think the easiest answer is a continuation of the species. Bees exist so that more bees can exist. It is certainly undeniable that survival and propagation are at the very core of every living being's programming. Bees have the advantage of having their daily purpose conveniently programmed for them as well. Every stage of a bee's short 1 or 2 month lifespan comes with specific duties programmed in, and their role in the hive changes every few weeks.
On a larger scale, you might say that bees exist to pollinate flowers, make honey, and participate in the overall balance of the ecosystem in which they live, but I don't think that is part of their capital-P Purpose. Being a part of the balance in the natural world is a consequence of being in it - we all impact that to some extent.
If you believe in an omniscient being (God) who created everything you see around you, then you might argue that bees were created as part of the wonder and magnificence of our world. That might be a fine 'purpose' too, but it is not something that the colony or individuals can focus on, so I don't find it a useful answer.
However, if one were to follow the evolution of bees (or any other life form for that matter), you can see that the species does not so much
'continue' as
'evolve', adapting to new conditions (if possible) and (presumably) improving as it goes. I like to think that the purpose of a bee then, is:
to continue the existence of the species and to contribute to the improvement of the species where possible, by: surviving (if appropriate from an evolutionary sense), facilitating the propagation and survival of other members of the species, and living to the best of its abilities so that natural selection will favour any subtle 'mutations' (or unique characterisitics) inherent in that individual that contribute to overall species enhancement.
Once I had that, I began to wonder if the same thing could be applied to humans. After all, on the great scale of things (such as the existence of humanity), if I'm looking for a one-size-fits-all base-line purpose to suit every individual human, then I'm looking for something simple and comprehensive. This seemed to be a good place to start.
Of course, humans are always the exception, aren't they. Many would be offended to think of a human's purpose in life as being comparable to that of a simple honeybee. To a certain extent, I agree. I don't think it too conceited to suggest that
Homo sapiens is truly unique among nature's creations so far. Our abilities, knowledge, conscience, cultures, arts, achievements, etc. are truly wonders. We don't know for certain that our advanced evolution is unique in the universe, but it certainly seems to be rare.
If you next accept the proposition that nature is constantly striving to improve itself, inherently (so to speak) favouring the next best thing and weeding out the bad experiments, then perhaps we hold a certain obligation not to mess with that. Certainly when unique individuals in history have lived to their full potential, humanity has often been the better and moved forward because of it. There are also examples of individuals who might have set us back. I like to think that those ones might not have been adhering to the purpose I proposed.
If nothing else, it has given me (and now you) something to think about. It has also given me an interesting Purpose that just might help guide me through 'stuff'.
What do you think?
Labels: bees, evolution, meaning of life, purpose, species
