Does humanity have a role in the universe or do we simply just exist? Many other religions define a role for humans, to worship and glorify a deity, and they challenge the Reality based Community to answer the question, "Why should humanity exist?" Does humanity have a purpose? Are we here for a reason? Is there something we have to accomplish? And if there is, can that reason be derived purely from science and logic? As it turns out - yes it can. Humanity does have a place in the universe and a science based goal. And when you understand it you will understand that our existence is far richer than any other religion has yet imagined. We have a purpose, and our purpose is clear. Let us now examine what that purpose is and how it is derived.
Yes! The good news is humanity does have a purpose in the Universe.
Before we answer this question, let us first appreciate the question we are asking. Let us suppose these three scenarios:
- A superior race of space aliens lands on Earth and they are weeding out our section of the galaxy and they say to us, "Why should we let you exist? What purpose do you serve?" And if we don't come up with a good enough answer, they are going to wipe us out of existence."
- We create a race of robots that have superior abilities to us and become a child race of humanity and they look at us asking the question, "Why are you still around?"
- Since computing power doubles every year by the end of the century computers will be trillions of times smarter than we are today. Futurists like Ray Kurzweil predict that in the year 2028 that computers will exceed the human brain. At some point computers will be able to reengineer themselves, making improvements to their own design. These improved computers will be able to make themselves even better. They will control their own evolution.
Since we know that something like that will happen and that it is likely that they will become their own life form, what values should we pass on to them that will become the guiding principles of their evolution? What will we teach them about their role in the universe? And in order to teach them, maybe we need to figure out our role in the universe first.
Why are we as a people worth saving? If humanity has no greater purpose then for what reason do we deserve to continue to exist?
And, of course, one of the other reason for answering the "What the Hell are we doing here?" question is that I'm tired of the faith based religious community laughing at us saying that without some deity that we have no purpose for existence and that life has no meaning. We are after all the Church of Reality and anything they can do we can do better. Figuring our humanity's role in the universe is no exception.
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Why should Humanity Exist? 
