What is purpose?
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A human construction to project significance and meaning onto the world. Alternatively, as Merriam-Webster would have it: http://www.merriam-webster.com/ 1
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Purpose to me, seems to be another word for function. To ask "what is the purpose of X?" is to ask "what is the function of X?", things seem to have many functions, therefore not everything has one function. "What is the purpose of zephyr20x6? (in real life)" or "What is the function of zephyr20x6?" is whatever output comes about from my existence. If I were to drive humanity towards utopia, a golden age, then my purpose was exactly that, that is the output of me. However all outputs need an input, no matter what effect comes out of my existence will require me to put in whatever is necessary to make that happen (though I doubt I'd bring humanity to a golden age XD). I think purpose could be described as the perfect functioning of someone. If someone sits and does nothing their whole life then their function was do to nothing. Someone's purpose is when they make a contribution to the world greater than if they were doing anything else. It is what their genetics and upbringing shaped them to do. Most people never meet their purpose. If the person who makes a "contribution" to the world does so because of their genetics and upbringing, how is that different from the person who sits and does nothing their whole life because of their genetics and upbringing? In both cases, what the person did was a consequence of what genetics and upbringing determined they would do. Neither could have done "more" or "less" with their life. 1
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