What Are Humans For?

What Are Humans For?
10/3/07

Much of today's “news” focusses on the “ain't it awful” side of things. These stories leave us wondering if our world would be better without humans. Our world has lived without humans for almost all of its history. Is there anything that we can say about this that has some scientific foundation? I believe there is, and I will discuss it in the following paragraphs.
To start with, I believe there are many who use their version of “The Theory of Evolution” to argue that humans are, effectively, an accident, a mistake. Let me explain. These folks tell us that we must believe that evolution is completely explained as a matter of random changes in the genome. It is true that a favorable change in the genetics of a child leave that child more likely to survive and reproduce than the parents. However, building an entire theory of genetics on that point seems, to me, to be stretching the point. Their argument, as I understand it, is that somehow they have proved that changes that produced the human from a more primitive mammal are random. I question the logic of this proof. There isn't any convincing logic that I can see.
Humans are certainly good at surviving. Our earth now is supporting more humans on its surface than it ever has before. Not only that, but we humans are busily creating lives in an unbelievable variety of environments. Some have been in orbit around the earth. A few have gone to the moon. Some humans study penguins in Antarctica. Personally, I like South Carolina.
There is one difficulty with this evolution-is-totally-random theory. It doesn't work. As humans have learned more about genetics, it has become clear just how many decisions are required to change, for example, a 4-legged animal like a raccoon into a human. We are familiar with the rate of genetic changes that occur in nature. Agricultural research, indeed, all of our agricultural productivity, depends on our understanding of this timetable. The time required to produce that many genetic changes in the human genome randomly is far, far, far longer than the age of the earth. The discrepancy is huge. The theory is wrong. There just hasn't been enough time for it to happen. The universe isn't old enough.
Therefore humans are not produced by accident. There is no real disagreement about this among the people who study human genetics. Suppose we are not an accident. If we are not an accident, we must have been created for some purpose. There must be some purpose to our existence. What is the purpose? Do we have any hints about this purpose?
There are hints. One hint is the most unique part of the human body: the brain. No one understands this amazing organ. The human brain is demanding. Consider your own brain. It requires more than ¾ of all the oxygen you breathe. No other animal has such a demanding brain. Look at the salamander, a more typical animal. In the salamander the brain is so simple that, if its brain is removed surgically, the animal will simply grow another one. That doesn't work in a human. Perhaps you have noticed.
If, as you age, your lungs deteriorate, your ability to think will deteriorate. Your brain just isn't getting enough oxygen. I am 67 years old. I experienced this deterioration as I aged. It is only recently that I have begun to reverse this trend and recover my clarity of thought. It is much more fun this way.
What does the brain do with all this oxygen? No other animal has such a demanding brain. The whale and the elephant have large brains. But these animals are enormously bigger than a human. Compared to their size, their brains are much smaller than the human brain. They are certainly less demanding. Why is the human brain so big and so demanding?
What is the brain good at? The brain is good at learning, The brain is good at learning from experience. The brain is especially good at learning from mistakes.
I propose that the human role is to become God. We have been granted unique equipment for the task. No other animal has such a demanding, questioning, probing brain. Becoming God is a task worthy of such a wonderful tool. Perhaps this wonderful wonderful universe was created with the hope that some creature within it could become God. This creature could go beyond the original understanding behind the Creation. That is our job.
I can propose some suggestions. First, being God requires great wisdom. Such wisdom requires time: time to experiment, time to discover if the experiment worked, time to make mistakes, time to learn from those mistakes, time to try again, and time to experience the results of your improved understanding. Our current lifespan is too short for this. By the time a human has made a few mistakes they are more than 60 years old. In my 60 years, I have been a college professor and an engineer. That just isn't enough time to develop the wisdom I need. I haven't had enough time to learn from my mistakes.
In our present world, a 60-year-old human is waiting to die. They are finished learning. Perhaps you will dispute me on this point. Good. After all, I am older than 60, and I am writing this article. Therefore I contradict my own argument. Well, maybe I do, and maybe I don't. Suppose, I, alone succeed in becoming immortal. Suppose, I, alone, learn how to live forever, while everyone else in the world goes on with their short lives. Sorry, folks. I can't do it alone. It is not my job. It is OUR job.
With our present lifespan we cannot achieve the goal for which we were created. God's wisdom takes longer than 60 years to develop.
It is true that human lifespan is lengthening. There was a time, not so long ago, when lives were so short that the problem was keeping the mother alive long enough to raise her children. If the man died first, it was less of a problem. It is not surprising that women outlive men. However, in our present context, we need a lifespan enormously beyond child-rearing time. It is important that we succeed in raising our children. But we share that wish with every other life on this planet. We share it with an oak tree. We share it with a bear. That wish is not unique. What about us is unique?
I suggest that immortality – or at least a greatly expanded lifetime - is a requirement for humans to begin to move toward the purpose for which they were created.