Are we born just to host other organisms?

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People spend a lot of time contemplating the purpose of mankind and why we exist. When you look at our history, it becomes clear it was only recently that we really conquered many illnesses caused by viruses and bacteria that have been vexing and killing people for thousands of years.

There's a lot of flowery speech about how mankind has such lofty purpose and that might be true on some level, but biologically, it seems like the prime reason humans exist is to host other organisms.

We are born to die, that's all.

That's a bit of an oversimplification. On a biological level, true, we will die one day unless science conquers it. On other levels, we do many other things besides die over the span of our lives. So I would have to disagree with such a vague statement, Fnord.

To say we have any other purpose is to imply a supernatural "creator" - one who determines that purpose before we are born.

Given the wide variation in how people live, the only common factor aside from birth is that we all eventually die.

Ergo, we are all born to die.

I am not eluding to purpose in that context. By purpose I meant what humans do while they are alive or what happens to them biologically, that was beyond their control at one time. Examples would be: creating, eating, sleeping, breathing, thinking, destroying, hosting, dying. Nowadays science helps resolve some of these involuntary purposes but not all.

We are born to spawn and die.
Bacteria is also born to spawn and die.
Our symbiosis with bacteria isn't purpose.
Every living thing has the same deal.
Some things just take longer to die.

All life is interdependent.

Life's a journey, not a destination


For the rest I try not to think of this stuff as I have too much of a vivid visual imagination

There is no purpose or direction to life. Life is just a set of chemical interactions. Symbiosis is simply a product of evolutionary forces. As Dawkins puts it The Selfish Gene “We are survival machines – robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes. This is a truth which still fills me with astonishment.”

Humans CAN develop the ability to CREATE PURPOSE in their life through relative free will.

This sets humans apart from all other animals as far as 'we' know.

And of course for folks who have not developed this ability, it is a moot point, until they do.

Truly, it's as simple as that, and why most people are followers or re-hashers of what other folks have done rather than creators of their own purpose in life, by developing their own true will in relative free will.

AND meanwhile those who do have mastery over their life like this by developing the ability for relative free will, go on an and attempt to help others find the truth of this, per example of folks like Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, and the potential list goes on to millions of others.....

But anyway, one thing for sure is, the 'blind' folks, like Mr. Dawkins to the reality of this truth, are in no position to teach others anything about this truth.

And those who believe the illusions of others, without seeking their own truth from within, are only fooling themselves into potential human misery and/or almost continuous discontent.

Biologically, people and many other organisms are symbiotic. We cannot survive without our internal microbiomes and the external biomes that provide the nutritive elements we need. We need our internal microorganisms just as much as we need food derived from plants and animals. We are this way because we evolved with those biomes and those microbiomes evolved with our ancestors. It is objectively insane to try to push parts of these systems into us/them categories. Try to survive a month without your gut biome!

Saying we exist only to host them makes no more sense than saying they exist only to support us. This idea of purpose is confused and unrelated to reality.

There is some good information about this for general audiences available from the American Society for Microbiology:Human Microbiome FAQ

All living organisms essentially have one purpose, which is to live long enough to procreate.

90% of 'our' cells are bacteria(some protozoa and fungus, etc....but you get the idea).
we have 23 000 human genes and 8 000 000 bacterial(et al) genes in that which is called a human
we cannot live without them

^^^this
well said

There is no such thing as free will as all choices in life are very easy to explain through science. When someone is born they are born with a certain DNA that will form a certain brain which will form a certain functions to try to pass DNA down. Being diagnosis with Asperger's have shown me that in fact I have no free will and I am just follow what my DNA has told my body to do to pass itself down.

It's not quite as cut and dry as that. Look at identical twins or clones. They have the same DNA yet lead very different lives and are only genetically identical.

Of course they will be different as they face different events in their lives. I would argue if they face down the same exact events it would result in a similar conclusion. For example, why do people want to find a mate? They seek out a mate due to hormones one has no control over. Thus, the hormones will push the person towards that direction. Hence one seeks a mate not by their own free will but due to biology.