More Denton: Reply to David (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, August 19, 2015, 20:50 (3384 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: If you acknowledge that survival is a purpose in itself, is it not possible that improvement might also be a purpose in itself, and that your God might have endowed the first living cells with the wherewithal to survive and improve without having to serve the purpose of providing humans with food some 3.79 billion years later? -DAVID: Why have single cells survive and improve unless the process is directed somewhere. I see purpose where you don't.-
I see purpose in all life, but obviously not the same as you see. I think most organisms, including ourselves, have the shared purpose of survival for as long as possible, and continuing the line. We humans also see improvement as a purpose. Just look at the range of improvements we can make and pass on, but ultimately all of them - technology, art, medicine, education etc. - are geared to the purpose of heightening the quality of life as an end in itself. Why not the rest of the living world? I see the quest for survival and/or improvement as the purpose and driving force of the whole evolutionary process and of all Nature's Wonders. I just don't see how or why the wasp's purpose in laying its eggs on the spider's back must be geared to the production of humans.