That's the tagline on the postcard from a church that was slid through my mailbox door a few days ago. Supposedly you're supposed to go to this church, and they'll tell you what Higher Purpose you're here for, invariably one that somehow ends up with you giving lots of money to this church in exchange for that privilege of serving a "higher purpose".
You want to know what you're here for? Fucking. That's it. You're just an animal like any other animal, with only one purpose in life -- to reproduce and get your genes spread as widely as possible so that they'll live on after you're gone. All this other stuff we've created over the years -- this "civilization" we've built -- all of it has only one purpose: To keep you alive for as many years as necessary to get your offspring well established furthering the next generation of your genes spreading throughout the human race.
Eat sleep fight fuck die. That's it. The reason why civilization, why morality and ethics and caring and all those other "good" things as a whole, are good is because they mean more of your offspring and more of your relatives' offspring will survive to maturity to spread your genes through the gene pool. That's all. That's what you're here for. That's Truth. Which is cold and hard and most people prefer nice warm reassuring lies, but (shrug). This blog doesn't do a whole lot of trafficking in lies, in case you haven't noticed.
Glad I could help!
-- Badtux the Snarky Penguin
What Am I Here For? Ask Duke Ellington; his answer is as good as anybody's.
ReplyDeleteSteve -
ReplyDeleteBrilliant!
most people prefer nice warm reassuring lies
I'm fine with some nice warm fucking.
Cheers!
JzB
Yep ! It all really does come down to food, real estate and sex.
ReplyDeletewell, reproduction is our biological imperative, but I really believe human beings are also meant to grow and develop spiritually. Whether true or not--and no one can say it is or is not--it's just a nice thought. So if it feels good, do it, I guess.
ReplyDeleteJerome, if you can point me at this "spiritually" thingy that you talk about... which bodily organ is it? What instrument can I use to observe it or measure it? Just wonderin' ;).
ReplyDeleteIn the end, "spirituality" is just a name for the state obtained by manipulating one's own brain chemistry via self-feedback to produce a desired sensation. Just meat. In that respect, these cows are probably having a "spiritual" response to jazz. They'll still be steaks within a few weeks.
- Badtux the Meat Penguin
Don't forget : defecation! Part of our natural makeup just like sex.
ReplyDeleteI suppose if we ate real food instead of chemicals our defecation might even be used as fertilizer instead of landfill.
As a species we are real experts at defecation. Audible defecation especially it seems.
w3ski
Haw. As someone who is childless, I figure that I have no real purpose other than to do what I can to make things better for other humans so that our species can survive. Or at least I must think that on some level since I care about what happens after I die.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm DTF too.
"Eat sleep fight fuck die." Bbbbut Mr. Penguin you might include 'The Mall' in that list.
ReplyDeleteLynne,
ReplyDeleteI don't think anything happens after I die, and I am also childless... but I find that trying to do my best for my fellow human beings makes me happy, in a different and more lasting way than most other "happiness" things make me happy. So, as I get older, I become more of an activist for causes that accomplish something for my fellow humans. Because it makes me happy.
(Now, mind you, I'm not complaining about sex...)
And here I thought it was to open up the tuna cans for the furballs.
ReplyDeleteCookie Jill has a point.
ReplyDeleteWe can make other meanings for our lives, if we want to. I decline to limit my experiences to things that rabbit can do better than I.
ReplyDelete@Karen. Yes!!! That is it exactly. It feels good to try to create a better future for humanity even though I know there is no way I'll ever get to enjoy my efforts or even know how things turn out.
ReplyDeleteLynne, Karen, but every gene that's in you came from *someone* and is shared with someone else who's alive and living on this planet right now, so even if you yourself aren't reproducing, you're still helping your genes survive by helping make the planet a better place.
ReplyDeleteMandT, the mall is just tweaking the pleasure chemicals of the brain. Meaningless.
Phil, Cookie, yeah, the furballs are just tweaking chemicals in my brain and serving as child substitutes. I give them meaning via my biological responses to them. They have no meaning in and of themselves.
Joe, human beings are much better at reproducing and spreading their genes than rabbits are. Humans live on virtually every square mile of this planet, regardless of climate, and your genes are shared with a billion other people scattered all over this planet. There is not a single rabbit in existence whose genes are that widespread in as many places as human beings. As for you deciding your life has some purpose other than making sure your genes survive, (shrug). You can invent any purpose you want for your life that makes your brain chemicals purr, as long as you realize that it's something that you invented (or smoked, if you're Willie Nelson ;), not some Truth handed down from some invisible sky demon that must be imposed by force on every other human.
-- Badtux the Purposeful Penguin
Badtux, I'm not a religious person and didn't intend to sound as though I am--I wasn't talking about an afterlife and all that stuff, just saying that some people--you, for instance, seem to have a great deal of empathy and compassion and a finely tuned sense of right and wrong, which others completely lack. That's the "spiritual" element I was taling about, and I don't think human beings are worth a damn without it.
ReplyDeleteLynne, Karen, but every gene that's in you came from *someone* and is shared with someone else who's alive and living on this planet right now, so even if you yourself aren't reproducing, you're still helping your genes survive by helping make the planet a better place.
ReplyDeleteThat is true. I recently read a piece written by someone who claimed that within 500 years, everyone who exists on earth will be a descendant of *everyone* who is on earth today (whose lines don't die out). We are all related.