1. Purpose
What is the purpose of life? From an anthropocentric standpoint, life can be perceived as either devoid of meaning or imbued with transcendental significance. Existentialist philosopher Albert Camus, for instance, compared our lives to the recurring task of pushing a heavy boulder uphill, only to watch it roll back down each time we near the summit[1]. Simply put, Camus was suggesting that life is nothing but a pointless absurdity—an exercise in futility.
However, this does not imply that we cannot eventually discover a personal purpose or even find appreciation for such a challenging, repetitive endeavor. Nietzsche, for one, posited that it is truly up to each of us to overcome nihilism and cultivate our “will to power”: an innate drive to live authentically and meaningfully, guided by our own moral convictions—even if doing so requires challenging prevailing societal norms[2].
Interestingly, Buddhism—despite its divergence from Western intellectual traditions—also acknowledges the cyclical nature of existence[3]. Buddhists hold a belief in the perpetual recurrence loop of birth, death, and rebirth, which, they assert, every single human being undergoes. This belief serves as motivation for them to pursue transcendental liberation, breaking free from the cycle of samsara and attaining Nirvana—a place of lasting peace and happiness.
Therefore, when we think about the purpose of life, we realize that it can be discovered in daily life, as we strive to develop our fullest individual potentials. Whether it is preserving a tree, pursuing athletic excellence as a football player, or embracing the responsibilities of parenthood, these are all avenues through which we can explore purpose amid the daily absurdities and suffering of our existence. And yet life may encompass a transcendent purpose, one that culminates in the attainment of a non-material reality such as Nirvana, Heaven, or Jannah.
2. Pessimism
On the other hand, let us talk about Looperculus, a regular guy who has become disillusioned with the idea of finding appreciation for the repetitive act of pushing his rusty van, laden with bricks, up the road only to watch it slide back down, while his mechanic beckons from the unachievable auto repair shop perched atop the hill.
This guy has adopted a staunchly pessimistic perspective, viewing life as futile and devoid of purpose, value, structure, or rationale, inherently characterized by suffering—representing nothing but a pointless piece of nonsense, not even worthy of appreciation, where his relentless pursuit of reaching the summit merely perpetuates a cycle of desire and frustration[4].
2.1 Looperculus’ Pessimistic Conjecture
For Looperculus, humans optimistically overlook the sadistic vastness of the cosmos. In his perspective, concepts such as God, morality, and society remain entirely disconnected from the indifferent and brutal essence of the natural world. Thus, he is driven to the conclusion that assigning purposes to life merely perpetuates this disgraceful human simulacrum[5], making it impossible for any single purpose to ever fully satisfy the question posed at the outset of this discourse.
It is impossible for any single purpose to ever fully satisfy the question posed at the outset of this discourse.
Looperculus
3. Cosmology
And examining Looperculus’ pessimism through a scientific perspective does not make it look any better. According to our current understanding of cosmology, the universe undergoes continual expansion across cosmic time scales, resulting in galaxies drifting unbelievably farther apart. The frenetic turmoil of a young universe gradually decreases toward a state of maximum entropy, where every single structure—ranging from subatomic particles to vast superclusters of galaxies—irrevocably freezes to death[6].
At approximately 3.5 billion years old, life on Earth itself is living a phase akin to middle age, and moving inexorably towards its eventual extinction, particularly as the Sun transitions into a red giant, engulfing our planet in its unimaginably searing, radioactive outer layers, stripping away the blue sky from above our heads.
However, the processes of stellar evolution and cosmic expansion, along with the attendant catastrophic scenarios, have unbridledly unfolded on an unimaginable scale for billions of years prior to our existence and will continue to unfold for billions of years after the last human draws breath on Earth.
3.1 Existence is an Error
So, our pessimist friend could use this scientific understanding to argue that human existence is fleeting, inconsequential, and, of course, devoid of purpose. He might even insightfully observe, “Life could very well be a cosmic aberration or, plain and simple, an error,” adding some meatiness to his discourse.
4. Cybernetics
To immediately start trying to alleviate Looperculus’ pessimism, and leveraging the term ‘error’ (often associated with machines like computers) as a starting point, let’s pivot the conversation towards cybernetics, and eventually this will guide us on a path to explore the concept of purpose.
We start by explaining that cybernetics, despite its initial connotations, encompasses far more than just computers, artificial intelligence, control systems engineering, and robotics; it extends across various disciplines including biology, psychology, sociology, and beyond. For the upcoming illustrative example, let’s narrow our focus to a commonplace kitchen appliance governed by cybernetic principles: the oven.
4.1 The Oven
Our first step in this not-so-fancy cybernetic example is to envision a simple, conventional oven—a model with a straightforward front-facing door that opens downward. Ready? Let’s bake a cake.
For that, we set the temperature control of our oven to 350°F (~180°C) and allow it to preheat for a few minutes. With the cake batter prepared and already in a pan, it is time to carefully place it into the baking compartment. Approximately 25 minutes later, we begin monitoring progress through the oven window until determining that the cake looks delicious (remembering to avoid opening the door to prevent temperature fluctuations).
Meanwhile, the most important part for us—the one that has to do with cybernetics and not with culinary—is to recognize that the oven’s sole purpose is to maintain the temperature close to the preset value until it is switched off.
Put cybernetically, the oven operates within a closed-loop system[7], continuously checking the current temperature to adjust the heater accordingly, a mechanism that relies on three key components: a temperature sensor, a heater, and a controller. Acting as the ‘brain’ of the system, the controller evaluates feedback from the sensor, compares it against the desired input temperature, and then signals the heater to warm up or cool down.
Looperculus should love those simple kitchen devices. Despite being entrapped within a recurrent loop (much like him), ovens do possess a purpose—moreover, a single, clear and predefined one—specifically, maintaining the temperature close to the preset value until they are switched off.
5. A Fresh Perspective
Let’s propose an alternative to Looperculus’ pessimistic conjecture that it is impossible for any single purpose to ever fully satisfy the question posed at the outset of this discourse. What if life, rather than possessing an inherent purpose, is instead a constituent element of a larger system that does possess purpose? In this context, life paradoxically assumes a purpose of its own, albeit one that remains imperceptible from our limited perspective, as individual components can’t directly be aware of their specific purposes. However, a component may infer its purpose by investigating the overarching purpose of its parent system.
5.1 Mr. Heaterson’s Epiphany
Consider this electrical oven heater as an illustration. Its specific purpose as a component of the oven is to generate heat by converting electricity through resistance. Yet, Mr. Heaterson (let’s call it that) remains oblivious to his purpose, harboring instead a pessimistic viewpoint that life consists solely of enduring brutal, repetitive cycles of electrocution until glowing red-hot.
Now, imagine one serene Sunday afternoon, as Mr. Heaterson inadvertently participates in baking a delicate cake and experiences a moment of epiphany. “Ah, everything around me revolves around heat. There’s the temperature sensor, the insulated compartment designed for heating… Could it be that I am part of a device intended for baking goods?” But then, a series of profound questions arise: “Where does this heat originate? What is my purpose? Have I been put here merely to endure perpetual electrocution?” Okay, it may take some time before Mr. Heaterson finds out his individual purpose.
5.2 Fundamental Principles
In the meantime, let’s explore our reality to find an equivalent to the role of heat within the context of an oven. In this scenario, we (humans) would assume a position akin to that of Mr. Heaterson, generating something—something that, like heat in the oven, interconnects with all the components of our universe. And if we can decipher what thing is this, it may serve as a clue indicating that we live in a cybernetic universe; perhaps the only clue we will ever uncover. However, before we proceed, let’s establish some fundamental principles regarding the cybernetic universe we are proposing:
a) It is not a colossal oven, computer[8], or any other cosmic-sized machinery;
b) It was not deliberately created—there exists no singular architect, programmer, or advanced alien civilization behind it. Consequently, it can’t be a mere replica or simulation[9] of some hypothetical original framework;
c) It does not reside within a magical, possible [outside] world[10].
With these considerations in mind, we posit that the cybernetic universe is a self-generating entity, perpetually entrapped within a continuous loop wherein each cycle comprises three phases: inception, progression, and conclusion; with the conclusion of one cycle trigging the commencement of the next, accompanied by adjustments in self-regulated behavior. The unique nature of the cybernetic universe is randomly generated during its initial inception, including its purpose, preset value, and termination condition.
5.3 A Bizarre Oven
Imagine a bizarre oven endowed with these characteristics. It would seemingly materialize out of thin air (inception), its temperature control would randomly set to a specific degree, commencing a gradual heating process (progression), and continuing until its storage of self-generated energy is fully exhausted (conclusion).
At this juncture, it would check its final temperature (output) and compare it against the preset value (input). Then, the entire oven would vanish, only to reappear with adjusted parameters, striving to align the output value more closely with the input. These parameters might include, for example: heating power, energy storage capacity, insulation quality, and size of the baking compartment.
Similar to certain cybernetic systems, this hypothetical oven would feature a termination condition, which could be fulfilled, for instance, by achieving and maintaining the output value in close proximity to the input for a randomly determined number of consecutive cycles, thereby disrupting the recurrent loop of inception, progression, and conclusion.
It is important to note that such an oven would basically constitute a miniature universe onto itself, rendering it incapable of facilitating the baking of a cake, as cakes and humans would not even exist in this context. Therefore, it is imperative to bear in mind that the technical purpose of an oven is not primarily baking, but rather maintaining the output value in close proximity to the input. Similarly, as mentioned in our fundamental considerations, it is essential to acknowledge that there exists no hypothetical stakeholder from any magical outside world who might potentially exploit our universe’s output for whatever purposes it may serve.
5.4 It From Bit
Even if such a hypothetical stakeholder were to exist, they would find it impossible to utilize our universe’s output to bake their cosmic-sized sausage rolls. Why? Because, straightforwardly, this output comprises information, not heat. Hence, in addition to the fact that we, humans, are physically composed of stardust, it is information that fundamentally interconnects our existence with the broader, boundless, and timeless context of the universe, as the universe’s sole, seemingly mundane purpose is to regulate the generation of information.
Looperculus may now contend that this assertion lacks coherence, arguing that unlike heat in an oven, information is not omnipresent throughout our universe. However, contrary to his skepticism, information pervades the cosmos in diverse forms and manifestations.
According to the concept of it from bit[11], every it (tangible entity) derives its ultimate significance from bits (fundamental units of information). The meticulously arranged atoms and molecules within a crystal lattice represent a perfect manifestation of structured information (bits) giving rise to a tangible entity (it). Matter, in all its forms, embodies properties of structured information, exhibiting recognizable patterns and interconnections, which also holds true for phenomena ranging from galaxies to living organisms and ecosystems.
However, this structured information alone does not constitute the type of information output by our cybernetic universe. If we once again draw parallels to the concept of heat within an oven, we can liken structured information to cold information.
5.5 Fundamental Premises
Subsequently, the hot information we seek must be generated by a heater, and this heater paradoxically is composed of cold information itself: us, the Heatersons of our universe. In this context, ‘us’ encompasses all conceivable forms of intelligent agents(IA): humans, countless forms of presumed extraterrestrial intelligences (ETI), and advanced models of artificial intelligence (AI)—both those developed by humans and hypothetical extraterrestrial designs.
The cognitive capacity to generate hot information (knowledge), comprising scientific models, theories, mathematical representations, as well as cultural, artistic, and philosophical expressions, defines us as IAs within the cybernetic universe.
Hence, let us revisit and formalize our fundamental premises:
- The cybernetic universe is a self-generating entity;
- It is perpetually entrapped within a continuous loop wherein each cycle comprises three phases: inception, progression, and conclusion; with the conclusion of one cycle trigging the commencement of the next, accompanied by adjustments in self-regulated behavior.
- The unique nature of our cybernetic universe was randomly generated during its initial inception, including its purpose, preset value, and termination condition;
- Following its initial inception, the purpose of our cybernetic universe has been to, cycle after cycle, maintain the amount of generated knowledge throughout the cosmos in close proximity with the preset value, persisting until the termination condition is satisfied.
6. Conclusion
Although the intricacies of gauging and feedback lie beyond the scope of this discussion, as does any claim to provide a definitive answer to our initial question, Looperculus should find solace in the knowledge gained thus far. He now understands that his pessimistic philosophical musings born from endless sweltering days of summer may intersect in the form of generated knowledge with the broader, boundless, and timeless expanse of the cosmos. Each bead of sweat trickling down his forehead, meeting the scorching asphalt of that near-vertical ascent, becomes a vital product in the ongoing cosmic dialectic aimed at knowledge generation.
Throughout the lifetime of our now less-pessimistic friend, the cold information comprising his body will gradually entropize back into chaotic data. However, the hot information it has generated—alongside the knowledge generated by other countless IAs across time and space—will undoubtedly be counted as the universe’s own output at the conclusion of this cycle.
So, Looperculus, your existence represents more than a mere fleeting, meaningless occurrence in the grand narrative of the universe. Whether you embrace pessimism or embody the ethos of a Buddhist monk, an existentialist philosopher, an aspiring athlete, or a soon-to-be parent, you undeniably serve as a vital constituent of the universe, the one responsible for heating it up with the warmth of knowledge.
Bibliography
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2. Nietzsche, Friedrich. 1883. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Translated by Walter Kaufmann. Penguin Books, 1978.
3. Walshe, Maurice O’C. 1995. The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya. 2nd ed. Wisdom Publications.
4. Schopenhauer, Arthur. The World as Will and Representation. Translated by E. F. J. Payne. Dover Publications, 1969.
5. Baudrillard, Jean. 1981. Simulacra and Simulation. Translated by Sheila Faria Glaser. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994.
6. Adams, Fred C., and Gregory Laughlin. The Five Ages of the Universe: Inside the Physics of Eternity. Simon & Schuster, 2000.
7. Ogata, Katsuhiko. Modern Control Engineering. Prentice Hall, 2010.
8. Lloyd, Seth. Programming the Universe. Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.
9. Bostrom, Nick. 2003. “Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?” Philosophical Quarterly 53, no. 211: 243-255.
10. Putnam, Hilary. Reason, Truth and History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
11. Wheeler, John Archibald. 1990. “Information, Physics, Quantum: The Search for Links.” In Complexity, Entropy, and the Physics of Information, edited by Wojciech H. Zurek, 3-28. CRC Press.