Why are we here?

What happens to us after we die?

These questions have been the origin and driving force behind many religions down the millennia. We have always believed that we are superior - to animals universally, but also to other people. (Christianity is the religion with which I am most familiar, so that is where most of my remarks will be directed.) Religion tells us that Humans are God's chosen race; we alone get to go to Heaven; we alone have souls (whatever a soul may be); we alone experience emotions; we have dominion over all other creatures; the world - the entire Universe - was created for our sole benefit. The egotism of this belief simply astounds me. Why would an all-powerful God go to such lengths to create and provide for a puny, self-centred race like us? And to claim that it is our freewill which led us to our selfishness and arrogance is no answer; for who but God gave us that freewill? Who but God put us in the environment where freewill would lead us into such behaviour?

No, to claim that we are here because some God likes us is, I believe, implausible in the extreme.

So what is the answer? Why are we here? You are human. That means that you probably carry with you all the things I mentioned above: do you not feel, deep down, that your life must have some higher purpose? Why do you feel that? Have you any objective evidence of it? Some would say yes; but hearsay or their subjective experience cannot be accepted as hard evidence. A court of law would not accept it; neither would a scientist. So I will not either. Put aside your feelings. Assume, for a moment, that any ideas you have regarding your purpose on this planet, and your fate when you die, are not necessarily true. Assume, if you can, that there is no purpose. It's not easy, I know, but try. Imagine yourself as a mere animal, existing only to reproduce, to pass on your genes to the next generation. Competing to do so with others of your species. Because that is all we are. Animals who developed, by evolution, the brain-power to elevate our perception of ourselves above the animal kingdom.

In what ways are we different from other animals? Not many. Not nearly as many as you might think. A few examples?

• We walk on two limbs only. So do birds.
• We copulate face to face. So do bonobos, pygmy chimpanzees.
• For us, sex can be a social activity, for pleasure rather than for reproduction. Ditto chimpanzees.
• We use tools. So do many animals, from birds to otters to primates.
• We make tools. Chimps do this too. So do some Galapagos finch species.
• We have awareness of self. This is difficult to test (Are you self aware? Prove it!), but there is some evidence that chimps do.
• We remember and grieve for our dead. So do elephants.
• We laugh. So do chimps, once again, and rats. It may well be that all mammals do.

There are other examples, of course. I read today that Humans are the only species that cry. I don't know if that is true.

So what happens when we die? Does the immortal soul go to Heaven, or Hell, as the case may be? Before we can address this, we need a definition of "soul." Just what, exactly, is the soul? A theologian may say it is that ineffable essence which outlives the body, and so on and so forth... but this is a circular argument. What evidence do we have that the soul exists? Well, it may say so in the Bible. This is not good enough, for it too is a circular argument (the Bible is true because it is the Word of God, and we know that because it says so in the Bible...). Is the soul what is responsible for our feeling that we are important, or for our self-awareness? Well, if so you must concede that some or all other species also have souls, on the grounds that at least some other animals are conscious, and as for that feeling of being somehow special: how do we know that other animals don't feel the same way? It could be a manifestation of the self-preservation instinct, common to all living things.

I choose to define the soul as life. Of course, by this definition every living thing has a soul, whether that is a person, another animal, a plant, fungus, bacterium, virus. No matter. So is there any evidence of life having any existence outside of a body? No. Near-death experiences are just that; near death. The tunnel effect described by many who suffer this is a result of blood (specifically oxygen) being withdrawn to supply the extremities. Ask any fighter pilot who has passed out under a high G-force. But if the soul is life, and life ends at death (by definition!) then the soul also must cease to exist at death. The soul is not immortal; there is no life after death. Death is the end. You only have one shot at life, and you must make the best of it. No second chances. We all get just the one life to live.