[center][b][u]Meditations on the purpose of humanity[/b][/u][/center]
[center][i]Brace yourself - things are about to get deep...[/i][/center]
[b]Some Context[/b]
Firstly, I want you to note that the question implies we have a choice. Because we do. The human species may has evolved to be the most intelligent on this planet, and probably the local part of the Milky Way. Ignoring protests that we had a purpose a priori, or indeed, that we were 'created' for a reason; leads us to the conclusion that we have no purpose other than that which we ourselves decide.
As intelligent agents, we have the ability to adapt our environment to ourselves, plan actions far ahead of time, and remember (albeit unreliably) events which happened from only a few years of being alive. Furthermore, we can learn from others through many forms of communication, using sound, touch, light, smell with the vastly interconnected neural network we call the human brain. This also allows us to pass data from one brain to another, and store it in forms beyond our own biology. The way our brains are connected at any given moment in time determine how we interpret data, and turn it into something which can be acted upon; information.
Now I work from the premise that humans are no more 'alive' than a piece of granite. I truly believe that because there is no evidence to the contrary and it makes the most sense when applying Occam's Razor, but I rather think that the problem lies in the definition of 'life' and how that is interpreted. That really is a topic for another time, but I think it suffices to say that compounding layers of abstraction from the quantum scale to the macroscopic, mask the exponential growth of complexity which can naturally arise from a relatively simple initial set of conditions. That complexity is where human level intelligence emerges from, as does the intelligence, morality and physical forms of every mammal, animal, plant and every other corporeal 'thing' that exists. The process of evolution itself is an emergent property of those conditions, and we are in turn an emergent property of evolution.
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[/center] [center][i]A convolutional neural network is a good example of the abstraction of intelligence [/i][/center]
For the majority of humans these hidden workings of reality go by generally unnoticed. We live at a very high level of abstraction; something as complex as us must do so to function. That is both a blessing and curse, it allows us to see patterns, but it prevents us from seeing detail. Doing both takes a very long time (its the reason schools and universities exist). That is to say it takes a long time to learn.
Humans tend to be blinded by the society we have constructed. The understanding required to attempt to answer the overarching question of our purpose is difficult to acquire; and those requirements are even harder to define. I do not believe that most people are equipped with the knowledge to satisfyingly reach an answer. Introspection and reasonable doubt applied, I might fall into that same category, which is why this is an open question. That being said, I think by studying the right fields, you can attempt to answer it.
[b]Where is this leading?[/b]
Everyone chooses something to fight for. Some people fight against animal cruelty, some fight for gender equality, others raise awareness of climate change. There are minorities whose beliefs cause harm to others. These ideals can be learned from our family and friends, through education, through books and popular culture, and too many other ways to list. Fundamentally though, our ideals come from other people. They are inherited.
I think almost everyone has a conflict of interests in their mind. There are simply too many injustices to fight against, which is why we all choose different ones. Those different ideals compete for priority (in a non-anthropomorphic sense), so deciding upon what is the 'most important', or phrased differently 'what our purpose should be' is often a constantly changing thing.
[b]Our purpose...[/b]
Primarily, I think we should be focused on keeping our species alive (reference to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs). Because if we cannot do that first, we cannot do anything else. So we need to identify the largest threats to human survival and to try solve those first. Obviously, these include but are not limited to; nuclear war, climate change, natural disaster, disease, but most dangerous of all is our own inaction.
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[/center] [center][i]Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - Requirements for the preservation of humanity[/i][/center]
In conjunction with that, I think we need a huge investment of time into developing artificial intelligence. We are making good progress at the moment, but it needs to accelerate. That could be the most efficient use of our resources, as general AI could potentially do our job for us, without having the physical limitations of our own biology. Our brain is of a finite size and capacity, but a silicon based intelligence is infinitely scalable within the laws of physics. Intelligent agents that could supersede our own ability to solve problems, would make the need for us to do it redundant. The evil Hollywood portrayals of AI aside, it will change the world for the better at a rate barely imaginable. We are already starting to see early signs of this, looking at systems such as IBM's Watson, or Google DeepMind's software.
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[/center] [center][i]Moore's Law and the exponential growth of computing power[/i][/center]
On an individual level, we should start taking responsibility for the deaths of the starving and suffering, when it is unnecessary. By not using our democratic vote and our own voice to speak out when we see wrongdoing, by not sacrificing our greedy lifestyle so others may have something rather than nothing, we create more division and move further from the solving these fundamental problems. The only way to solve them is by making mutually beneficial goals your own. Your time is as valuable as every other human's; although it may be hard to motivate yourself to make a difference, just remember all oceans are nothing but a collection of drops. Our purpose is the collection of those drops, its the sum of every individual's - make your drop count.
You seem like a smart guy. However, you discount valid alternatives immediately, accept some premises without question, and then end with a conclusion that ignores much of basic human traits.
Keep reflecting and learning. A lifetime isn't enough, but it is all we've got.
Thank you for giving some well reasoned criticism; and I agree with you. Short of writing a book on the subject though, I just can't go into enough detail nor provide the evidence that would satisfy anyone to fully explain why I believe what I do. I try my best to be objective and rational most of the time (with a little poetic license thrown in), so I have some confidence in what I say. But we all think our views are right; that's why they're our views. Absolute or immutable beliefs are the real problem because they assume there is nothing more to learn. I enjoy challenges to what I believe... I know there will always be more to learn. During our one, short lifetime. :)
I enjoyed reading this interesting even if it was deep....I agree with the Maslow and his thoughts and also Erik Erikson's stages of development theory.
SW-User
You say there is no such thing as 'life' and that our purpose should be to keep our species 'alive'. I think we can do better in terms of appreciating what we are and where we should strive to go.
We are high level replicators, able to make decisions based on such a complex brain structure that it appears like there is something special about being 'alive'. Many people believe in a soul, spirit or an equivilent immaterial part of sentient being, to explain such emergent behaviour. I argue that there isn't; that to be alive is just a misleading term for being so cognitively complex it is difficult to see the biological machine. We are no different to rocks at a fundamental level, but emergent properties appear at macroscopic scales which make us (and other animals) seem more than that. It is silly, and I often think very damaging to glorify what we are. The only way in which we're significant is due to the improbability of our existence; something which we cannot measure well as our knowledge of extraterrestrial life is limited at present.
By keeping our species 'alive', I simply mean to continue replicating. I cannot stress enough, how careful we should be about the concept of being alive. However, I'm interested in what your thoughts are on what the long term goals of humanity should be. That is an extremely difficult question, which may not have a correct answer. I don't think there is a correct answer, in that we must create our own goals. But what is the end-game? What are we ultimately trying to achieve? Imagine we colonize our galaxy, through a mastery of technological understanding. Perhaps even inventing intergalactic travel, colonizing the universe. What is the overall point? What do we do then?
