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100 Thoughts - Life, Politics, Science and Religion
Why We Are Here
“The purpose of life is to have children and to raise them intelligently.”
For those without children, another way of stating it is; “The
purpose of life is to help to have children and to help to raise
them intelligently.”
A human is an animal, not that different from other animals. The
purpose of existence for all plants and animals is perpetuation
of the species. If a species did not perpetuate itself, it would
cease to exist. If a species is to survive, it must have offspring.
The only significant way we are different from other animals is
in our intelligence. It is our intelligence that gives us the
ability to learn, to reason, to think beyond ourselves. Because
humans possess intelligence, we should raise our children intelligently.
Unfortunately, we could get into quite a debate as to how to raise
a child intelligently. Although it would be difficult to come
to complete agreement, there are many ways that we could agree
upon. We should love them. We should help them to be loving individuals.
We should teach them. We should help them to become teachers of
others. In other words, we should help educate them to carry on
in an intelligent manner.
First, it should be recognized that raising children intelligently
requires a certain amount of knowledge. That means that a certain
amount of education, perhaps in high school, should be devoted
towards how to raise children intelligently. Additional classes
should be available/required for parents-to-be.
Second, prenatal healthcare should be universally available, for
anything less is not intelligent. Healthcare must be extended
to all children, because they must be healthy in order to educate
them to the best of their ability.
Third, we must limit the number of children being born. This planet
can only support so many billions of humans. Intelligence and
reason clearly make that evident. To let the birthrate go uncontrolled
is not intelligent, for it can only lead to unnecessary conflicts
and deaths. We must exist in equilibrium with this planet.
Fourth, we must educate our children to the best of our ability,
instilling in them that all life is precious. We are the species
with the ability to have the greatest impact on this planet, so
we need to use that ability wisely.
People that do not have children of their own, by choice or due
to infertility, should do what they can to help in the raising
of children. The guide for ways to help is the statement, “It
takes a village to raise a child.” If a person has a job that
contributes to the welfare of the village, then he or she is indirectly
helping to raise the children in the village. In this way, helping
to raise children intelligently is not that different from society
now. But in other ways it would be, such as a greater amount of
social support for the rearing of children than we currently have.
“The purpose of life is to (help to) have children and to (help
to) raise them intelligently.”
Using this as a guide, it is easier to make decisions about what
to do in life. Children go to school, not just for themselves,
but also to learn to become intelligent parents for their children.
Adults select mates, not on physical attraction, but on parenting
ability. People select careers not to become rich, but to be able
to help fulfill the purpose of life.