Why I believe what I do. And, the purpose of life.

I was asked recently why and/or how I came to believe what I do. I suppose first, one must explore what I believe.

I believe in nothing supernatural. Hence, I am a Bright, see www.the-brights.net.

I have a degree in Archaeology and have a fairly good grasp of technology and history, our momentum and the kick we've given to the environment thanks to CO2 emissions, will cause "havok" in Earth's climate for many centuries to come.

We have yet to see any "Real" weather activity, thanks to the inertia of atmosphere and ocean to absorb some of what we've done, but we've nudged them and now they're moving, and nothing can keep them from going where they wish.

They just might not have room for us to be around anymore!

We have ALREADY done enough to set the systems off kilter just so that conditions on the planet will no longer support human life, REGARDLESS of any actions we take to stave off the inevitable...

I believe that having children is immoral given the current state of the world. Hence I am a VOLUNTEER in the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement www.vhemt.org.

I believe that our thoughts and our mind and our body and our brains are all one single solitary thing. There is no "soul" or "life essence" that somehow transcends our lifetime. Death comes at the end. Cessation. Finality. Nothing.

Ashes to ashes as it were.

The sooner all learn this, the less fantasy and faithfulness will blind the ignorant, and true human progress can be obtained.

Think about how much money could be saved if no one contributed one dime to religious organizations that promise an afterlife?

 There is no afterlife, no matter how much you want there to be one, and no matter how good you are in this life.

The conditions for life were already in place when the solar system and Earth formed. Life is the inevitable outcome of the chemistry that naturally occurred, given those initial conditions. There is no other explanation necessary, and the proof is that we are here.

If you think that each individual is somehow "special", well we certainly are, however, we are also part of the entire web of interconnections that is life on Earth.

The nature of life is to exploit energy resources encountered in the environment. Some life forms inhabit "black smokers" at the bottom of the sea, and get their energy from chemical reactions other than photosynthesis.

Most everything on the surface is dependent somehow on photosynthesis to obtain sunlight energy to drive the chemistry that supports our existence.

Each species occupies an energy niche where they, as a whole and overall, are the most fit individuals to obtain that particular energy. When that isn't true, they will go extinct, or evolve to obtain energy from a less competitive or more available source.

Humans have obtained a degree of separation from natural systems. This stems from our "Culture" in the Anthropological sense. It is all behaviors we do that are not inherited per se, along with the technology to support our culture.

Language may be the main culprit if we look back as to what drove humanity to be "outside of nature".

That about sums it up.

Except, life, all of it, and overall, exists to digest the Planet Earth, eating up all available chemical and light energy possible.  Any individual species is just on a continuum of other species, taking up an 'energy niche'.

So, as we as individuals, as a species, and as life, eat and shit, that is the purpose of life.

Why I believe what I do. And, the purpose of life.

I was asked recently why and/or how I came to believe what I do. I suppose first, one must explore what I believe.

I believe in nothing supernatural. Hence, I am a Bright, see www.the-brights.net.

I have a degree in Archaeology and have a fairly good grasp of technology and history, our momentum and the kick we've given to the environment thanks to CO2 emissions, will cause "havok" in Earth's climate for many centuries to come.

We have yet to see any "Real" weather activity, thanks to the inertia of atmosphere and ocean to absorb some of what we've done, but we've nudged them and now they're moving, and nothing can keep them from going where they wish.

They just might not have room for us to be around anymore!

We have ALREADY done enough to set the systems off kilter just so that conditions on the planet will no longer support human life, REGARDLESS of any actions we take to stave off the inevitable...

I believe that having children is immoral given the current state of the world. Hence I am a VOLUNTEER in the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement www.vhemt.org.

I believe that our thoughts and our mind and our body and our brains are all one single solitary thing. There is no "soul" or "life essence" that somehow transcends our lifetime. Death comes at the end. Cessation. Finality. Nothing.

Ashes to ashes as it were.

The sooner all learn this, the less fantasy and faithfulness will blind the ignorant, and true human progress can be obtained.

Think about how much money could be saved if no one contributed one dime to religious organizations that promise an afterlife?

 There is no afterlife, no matter how much you want there to be one, and no matter how good you are in this life.

The conditions for life were already in place when the solar system and Earth formed. Life is the inevitable outcome of the chemistry that naturally occurred, given those initial conditions. There is no other explanation necessary, and the proof is that we are here.

If you think that each individual is somehow "special", well we certainly are, however, we are also part of the entire web of interconnections that is life on Earth.

The nature of life is to exploit energy resources encountered in the environment. Some life forms inhabit "black smokers" at the bottom of the sea, and get their energy from chemical reactions other than photosynthesis.

Most everything on the surface is dependent somehow on photosynthesis to obtain sunlight energy to drive the chemistry that supports our existence.

Each species occupies an energy niche where they, as a whole and overall, are the most fit individuals to obtain that particular energy. When that isn't true, they will go extinct, or evolve to obtain energy from a less competitive or more available source.

Humans have obtained a degree of separation from natural systems. This stems from our "Culture" in the Anthropological sense. It is all behaviors we do that are not inherited per se, along with the technology to support our culture.

Language may be the main culprit if we look back as to what drove humanity to be "outside of nature".

That about sums it up.

Except, life, all of it, and overall, exists to digest the Planet Earth, eating up all available chemical and light energy possible.  Any individual species is just on a continuum of other species, taking up an 'energy niche'.

So, as we as individuals, as a species, and as life, eat and shit, that is the purpose of life.

How the expression of human conscience creates culturally relevant norms which drive societal evolutuion, and the origin of religious faith

To a Quora answerer:  Thanks.  have to share, you can delete, regards: Why do humans have a conscience? Is there any evidence to support the idea that other animals also possess a conscience?

Read your answer and need to internalize it, but, The anger/guilt dichotomy is all about social hierarchy, as you said.  here's a couple paragraphs of some implications...things I've been refining...ba anthro 1976 lol.

NORMS, the way people in a culture act, are what drive societal evolution.  Your discussion of our thinking process shows how our individual motivations to act one way or another, lead to and stem from cultural norms.

Jews are not allowed pork, yet Oceanians love it, (norms are cultural) but, if Swine Flu were to jump the porcine=human divide, the Polynesians would be wiped out...that's an example of a societal norm (eating and reveling in pork) causing great societal disruption, depending on environmental factors...like disease. 

NORMS (how we act, the connection to morality) are therefore the Genes of Societal Evolution.  

If those "genes" are expressed in an environment that isn't conducive, the degradation or extinction of society follows!

There is a further implication, relating to "leaders and followers".

Our DNA contains the golden rule, otherwise we couldn't/wouldn't form groups in the first place.  A group implies leaders and followers, by definition, more followers than leaders.

If the leader provides good advice, and the NORMS practiced by that culture are successful, the leader and that 'platform' are used to produce the next generation of this society.

If the leader is unsuccessful (in ending the drought, for example), they are either replaced, new norms are practiced, or, the norms taught by that leader lead to disintegration of the society!

Discussion of why faith happens follows.  Thanks, you really helped!

How the expression of human conscience creates culturally relevant norms which drive societal evolutuion, and the origin of religious faith

To a Quora answerer:  Thanks.  have to share, you can delete, regards: Why do humans have a conscience? Is there any evidence to support the idea that other animals also possess a conscience?

Read your answer and need to internalize it, but, The anger/guilt dichotomy is all about social hierarchy, as you said.  here's a couple paragraphs of some implications...things I've been refining...ba anthro 1976 lol.

NORMS, the way people in a culture act, are what drive societal evolution.  Your discussion of our thinking process shows how our individual motivations to act one way or another, lead to and stem from cultural norms.

Jews are not allowed pork, yet Oceanians love it, (norms are cultural) but, if Swine Flu were to jump the porcine=human divide, the Polynesians would be wiped out...that's an example of a societal norm (eating and reveling in pork) causing great societal disruption, depending on environmental factors...like disease. 

NORMS (how we act, the connection to morality) are therefore the Genes of Societal Evolution.  

If those "genes" are expressed in an environment that isn't conducive, the degradation or extinction of society follows!

There is a further implication, relating to "leaders and followers".

Our DNA contains the golden rule, otherwise we couldn't/wouldn't form groups in the first place.  A group implies leaders and followers, by definition, more followers than leaders.

If the leader provides good advice, and the NORMS practiced by that culture are successful, the leader and that 'platform' are used to produce the next generation of this society.

If the leader is unsuccessful (in ending the drought, for example), they are either replaced, new norms are practiced, or, the norms taught by that leader lead to disintegration of the society!

Discussion of why faith happens follows.  Thanks, you really helped!

Jellyfish will inherit the Earth

This is one of the finest paragraphs ever penned, article citation to follow:

"Like a karmic device come to punish our planetary transgressions, jellyfish thrive on the chaos humans create. 

Overfishing wipes out their competitors and predators; 

warmer water from climate change encourages the spread of some jellies; 

pollution from fertilisers causes the ocean to lose its oxygen, a deprivation to which jellyfish are uniquely tolerant; 

coastal developments provide convenient, safe habitat for their polyps to hide. 

In addition, the great mixing of species transported across the world in the ballasts of ships opens up new, vulnerable ecosystems to these super-adaptors."

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/21/are-jellyfish-going-to-take-over-oceans

True that.