Who Are WE?

[mythbusterfan]

This question was prompted after reading Star Wars, Yoda, Dark Rendevous. In it yoda has a flash back in which he asks a young dooku this question. "who are we Think you dooku?"
dooku replies, "In the end what we are is alone."


I think this can apply to much more than a fantasy world it has some meanings in "real life"

Who are we?

Why are we here?

And more importanty is there a meaning in our existence and in the existance of everything.

Was there a reason for our peoples to evolve into what we are.

this is a recent addition that I thought of
Are we alone?
and does it really matter what we do?

[Gryphon]

Why stare at the stars and think about how insignificant we are to the whole scheme of things? (Okay, maybe that wasn't what you were talking about, but I'm just typing) Why've we gotta have a reason, a meaning, or an "answer" to life? Yo, all of this is random chaos, and that's all good. I don't need anything more than the birds and butterflies (oh, and music and friends :P ). It's hard for me to care about the little boy in China who flushed his toy car down the toilet on accident.

[A Traveller with Magic]

*tempted to one-line this*
Because.
Or:
"Staring at the stars and thinking about how insignificant we are" helps puts things into perspective. (I know it sounds repetitive and..well...it's the best way I can put it.)
It's too hard to deal with random chaos (for most of us anyways). So we try to catagorise things and have meanings for everything, so we can go on with figuring out the stuff we don't know with the things we do. If we don't (generally, you're an exception Gryph as always ) then we get overwhelmed and lost and don't know what we should be doing. Or rephrase the question as "What's the point of doing anything if it won't count at the end?"

And as to the question of our existance instead of why we are asking why we exist...I believe we are part of a great plan that is too big to see from here, whether that is God's plan or the plan of intelligent super-beings who created our world to answer the question of Life, the Universe and Everything. I also believe that I believe more than what the general population believes, but it's hard to think philosophically if I haven't had enough sleep or my supper.
I guess I'm more toward the let-the-philosopher-type-people-lose-sleep-over-the-question-of-life-and-I'll-just-enjoy-the-time-I-have-on-Earth type.
*end of ramble*

[Max]

OOOOOOOOOOOOO... fun a debate topic. Well my mom thinks the meaning of life is to serve. Well I think that we were put here to decide our own meaning. I mean, I could grow up to end world hunger, or take over the world using Myhtbuster technology. Life, in my opinion, is not predetermined, you can chooses to do anything. From boring bussnessman to internationaly know terrorist. Let me ask you somthing. If life had a predetermined perpouse, think of just how boring that would be. Barley any dicisions to make and you couldnt choose your path. Now that would be more boring than a school asembly all of last block on friday. In a nutshell I am trying to say, choose your own path, that (in my opinion) is the meaning of life. Bye!

[Angel_Star]

[Cress]

I think our purpose here is whatever we make it. It's like we build our own reality. We decide for ourselves what our purpose is, and if we feel that we don't have a purpose here then we end up not having one and showing it in the way that we act. If that makes sense.

[kaiba4ever]

Our purpose.... why we're here?.... Um.... I don't think we HAVE a purpose. Sure, some people say "everyone is on the world for a purpose," and maybe that's partially true, but I really don't think that we were put on this planet to DO something.

Each person might have their own fate, each person might serve their own purpose to make a difference in the world. Each and every person (with exceptions) serve a purpose in living life, either revolutionizing the world, or simply making a difference in one persons life.

But us, as in humans as a whole, I don't think it's nearly so direct. People don't serve any more purpose in the world and way of life than fish or birds or lizards do. If you look at the world and universe as a whole, the time each human spends alive, the time our entire race is here, is minimal and doesn't matter. It won't make a difference in the greater universe. Maybe you might make a difference, and change the people's live around you, but people as a whole don't serve any greater purpose. At least that's how I look at it...