What is the purpose of the universe ?

[modeller]

I have entered this question in the religion section but I thought that it might be more appropriate here. Is it allowed ?
Let us accept the the fact that there are trillions and trillions of stars , planets and asteroids.

Now the bible claims that it was made by an entity we call God.

Clerics have claimed for thousands of years that we are unique , our world is unique and life is unique to our world.

If that is true what is the point of the universe . Why would God make something that dead and lifeless. Trillions of lumps of rock and gas travelling through space for billions of years seemingly for nothing.

If God created Man as an experiment, as is sometimes claimed , he could have done that by just creating our solar system at the most. Why waste all those creative powers on a useless universe.

One other possibility is that the bible and the clerics are all wrong and that there are countless worlds out there and the universe is teeming with life. It still doesn't answer the question . What is the purpose of the universe but it does make a little more sense.

[Zacs-Master]

Duality?

[boxtops]

This is the other thread, in case you get answers on both http://www.theanswerb.../Question1147563.html

[lcg]

does it have to have purpose? animals don't care if there is a purpose and they seem to do just fine....it's only people that start to look for meaning into things that aren't necessarily there. and what meaning should it have? everybody will have their own idea - not necessarily a unified one as in religion....that's for people who don't know how to behave by themselves and somebody else to tell them (oh...and take their money). that's my opinion, anyway.

[VHG]

>>>Clerics have claimed for thousands of years that we are unique

The church used to claim the earth was the centre of our solar system. The catholic church wanted to lock Galileo up for saying the sun was the centre of our universe.

The church will say anything to get people to "follow" them and all through history have lied, cheated, tortured, killed and more to force" their religion on people.

Why on earth people in this day and age are still so silly to follow a religion (and fight and kill for it) is beyond me.

Man only "invents" a god because he is so scared of how miniscule he is and how pointless our lives are (in the whole scheme of things) that a "god" and and afterlife seems to make it worthwhile.

It isn't.

[Answerprancer]

You ask this as if it's taken as read that a human concept from some dubious story book is a real option. Wherever you plant this question (science, religion, TV, chatterbank etc) you are still basing it on the assumption that you've 'got it right' and that existance of matter/time/space has to have a "purpose".

[thenry]

There is no 'purpose of the universe'. We can only try to understand the slightest knowledge of how we fit in !

[Answerprancer]

Modeller - you have responses to debate with, wakey wakey !
(Oh dear, looks like he's bitten off more than he can chew ...yet again).

[karenmac60]

We are no more than a quirk. The universe exists with millions of stars and a handful of planets. It just so happens that conditions on this one were right for life to form and now we have a population who believe in fairytales and obsess with things like how people hang their washing and what type of car folk drive. Ain't life grand!

[Answerprancer]

..ah dear old modeller and his late night "is there life on your anus" pseudo philosophy non-debates !
Come on, thread host - where is your feedback ?

[Wharton]

VHG
What brings Roman Catholicism to mind in responding to modeller's post?

[Old_Geezer]

Purpose implies some entity that has that purpose. I don't think of the universe as an intelligence that can have its own purpose. So yes the spiritual section was the right place for this sort of question.

Here one might consider what it achieves, and how it achieves it, but there is nothing to indicate there is any overall purpose. Science investigates what is, rather than finding a reason for it all.

[beso]

A purpose is a large mammal that swims in the ocean. They are quite similar to dolphins.

[FredPuli43]

The Vatican's explanation of the Galileo mistake was to say that the previous thinking was a result of 'faulty exegesis'. Quite. Had to look 'exegesis' up ("Explanation or critical analysis of a text, especially the Bible"). Can't expect the Church to use language that the congregation understands; they held on to Latin long enough. So the word of God was still correct, but we were reading the word incorrectly! Ah, well. And what else are we reading with faulty exegesis ?

[ll_billym]

I take the view that if there is a 'purpose', 'creator', 'experiment', blah blah blah, then we can never know what that is, as we are 'inside' it - the wrong side of the firewall so to speak.

Therefore, as far as humanity are concerned there are none of these things, all we can do is understand OUR view of ourselves and the universe and how they behave via our own creations, explorations and experiments - not by making up stories that will never be proven.

[jomifl]

Exactly ll_billym, Also if 'god' created the universe he must be outside it, so beyond contact by us.

[woofgang]

the purpose of the universe? 42.

The question has no meaning, you might just as well ask what does being good at maths smell like?

[Old_Geezer]

That is the smell of smugness.

[woofgang]

lol OG