In the grandest sense of the word there is no 'meaning' to life.
There is no purpose for our existence. I truly beleive in Dawkin's
ideas on genetics. The 'selfish gene' is a good working concept.
We are simply fleshy bags here for nothing more than genetic
replication. Combine this with Gould's ideas presented in the
book "Full House" (in this book Gould presents the idea that
increasing complexity in organismal evolution is merelyy a func
-tion of opportunity. The world is filled with one-celled
organism that are 'fit' [in the words of the author of the above
article]. Once all possible niches are filled with one celled
organism, horizontal evolution [diversification] becomes
impossible and the only route left is vertical evolution.)
Evolution is seen as a progressive path, leading always
towards 'better' or 'more fit' or whatever mistaken idea
presented, because complexity is the only route open.
Human culture is another story. There is no biological
'meaning' to culture, or indeed our very sentience.
Yet there is a meaning to aspects of culture as applied to
culture. This may be circular logic but, once culture arose
as a byproduct to biological evolution it entered a self
replicating/reinforcing cycle that gives it a meaning. It is
not a generalized, biological, meta-meaning, but rather a
meaning inherent only to human culture (as far as we can tell).
If a pirannha and eats a sick member of it's school we do
not recoil in horror. The pirannha is mearely weeding out the
weak. If I shoot someone with cancer you recoil in anger,
fear, loathing, disgust. Where does the difference lay. Only
in the fact that in one case I am killing another sentient
sentient creature.
Sentience is the qualifier for meaning. As far as we know,
humanity is unique in it's sentience. Culture is the observable
feature of sentience. Culture has an inherent meaning in and
of itself, and only in respect to itslef.
Genetic chemistry begat biology, Biology begat sentience,
Sentience begat culture, Culture is the only one that has a
meaning.
