What is the basic human goal after survival is?

At the highest level, our goals should boil down to two fundamental things: survival and perpetuating happiness.

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It is clear that everyone has different views of what this would entail. However, regardless of race or religion, the same set of core values pop up over and over again within the human family. We also have many years of shared history and evolution which make us much more similar than we like to think. Thus, when our goals align with our shared values, we are endowed with power and collective purpose. As stated in the Reality Reduced intro page, this publication’s purpose is to address humanity's goals, threats, and tools to creating a fantastic future. As such, it is only appropriate to first address what a fantastic future might look like and what humanity’s overarching goals should be. At the highest level, our goals should boil down to two fundamental things: survival and perpetuating happiness. Nothing too controversial or insightful about that. However, let’s first address why these are important and fundamental goals. Now, you’re probably thinking “Well duh these should be our goals, who doesn’t want to survive and be happy?!”, but let me put a finer point on it to make sure our base is solid.

(Fair warning: we are about to get a little philosophical and existential.)

Survival

“The universe gives birth to consciousness, and consciousness gives meaning to the universe.”

― John Archibald Wheeler

I want to drive home a very specific point: consciousness gives meaning to the Universe. Without conscience beings with subjective experiences, our Universe would be meaningless. The concept of “meaning” couldn’t even exist. Our Universe would just be a bunch of matter mixing around in space for eons until its eventual heat death. So, what if humans really are the only intelligent life in the Universe? Humans, trapped on a rock covered by an ultra-thin layer of livable atmosphere swirling around a ball of burning hydrogen. And what if one day, we find that we have poisoned our air beyond livability, an asteroid strikes the Earth with enough punch to permanently knock out life, or we create ASI with goals much different than our own? No conscious being left to appreciate beauty or progress in the entire Universe. To me, “sad” doesn't even begin to describe it. And, unfortunately, these are very real possibilities.

So yes, survival is important and isn’t just about us: it is about giving meaning to the Universe. That’s a very worthy goal, but not an immediately obvious reason, right?

But more on this in future articles (which you can now find here). Onto happiness!

Perpetuating Happiness

To start, I think it is worth defining what I mean by happiness. I believe happiness to be associated with joy, peace, satisfaction, contentment, and fulfillment. I believe it is about finding beauty in the world and living up to one’s potential. It is long-lasting by nature. I do not directly associate happiness with pleasure, lust, ease, or gluttony. I also do not believe happiness is caused by a lack of pain or sorrow. In fact, I don’t believe we humans can have real happiness without some level of sorrow. We can’t know the sweet without the bitter.

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So, when thinking of a fantastic future, I don’t imagine one of endless joy and never tasting of pain. However, I do imagine a world with decreasing suffering, especially avoidable or unnecessary suffering. There will still be the growing pains associated with learning, and occasionally learning things “the hard way”, but the pain caused by hunger, avoidable accidents, and the abuse of others should slowly dissipate from humanity. Sure, maybe someday we can figure out how to have endless, tireless, enjoyable joy without the need of feeling pain, but even then, I’m not convinced that is necessarily a worthy goal. But who knows? (read this article for more on the subject) In our current form as biological, sentient beings, I believe the following list is what makes us truly happy:

Prosperity Health (physical and mental) Sustainability Freedom Equality Exploration and progression

Each of these topics is MASSIVE in its own right. However, let’s quickly address why I have them listed with more in-depth articles to come over the next few months. Prosperity: By prosperity, I don’t mean anything too extravagant. We just need to get the bases covered of making sure people have shelter, healthy food, water, stable family/social environments, and access to quality education and job opportunities. When these things are taken care of, humans are freed to focus on things we are uniquely capable of. Obviously this is a much more complicated task than I make it sound, but it is clearly something humans need to invoke sustained happiness. (full article available here) Health: This one is pretty clear too. When you are in poor physical health, life can become quite miserable. This is doubly true if you are in poor mental health. Not only is life difficult to enjoy if you are physically or mentally ill, but it also becomes difficult to live up to your full potential. And when health problems pervade an entire society, that society will not be able to reach its full potential. (full article available here) Sustainability: Life is precious and seemingly unique in the Universe (as far as we can tell). Humans have a responsibility in being good stewards of life on Earth, protecting it and making sure it can live to its fullest potential. It’s not only about being stewards though, it’s also about our own happiness. There is an abundance of studies that show that connection to nature is key to human happiness. Also, it’s simply prudent that we do not exhaust natural resources. (full article available here) Freedom: Humans love being independent actors. We like to be able to absorb information and make choices as we see fit. Key to this, however, is making sure we have the correct information to start with. Truth. This entails stopping misinformation campaigns and false news which perpetuates our society today. By making choices as we see fit, I mean being able to choose our path in life, choosing our leaders in democratic processes, and make moral decisions. I do not mean, though, that self-interest should dominate. (full article available here)

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Equality: This is part one of the “perpetuating” in “perpetuating happiness.” It is not good enough if health and prosperity are only given to or taken by a select group of privileged people. It is an equal right of anyone born into the human family. This right transcends race, creed, sex, age, ability, or sexual orientation. It is about bringing the greatest good to the greatest number of people. Now, I don’t necessarily believe that everyone needs to be equal in every way — I think people can, and should, be rewarded for individual effort — but we need greater equality than what we see today, especially equality in the opportunities given. (full article available here) Exploration and progression: We humans are a very unsatisfied species. You know the song “Never Enough” in The Greatest Showman? Yeah, that’s us to a T. Spreading our reach beyond our little rock and walking on unexplored worlds is something that will bring humans much satisfaction. This is something that was built into our neanderthal ancestors to push them to keep on exploring past the next hill and discover new lands. It is also part two of the “perpetuating” in “perpetuating happiness”. By spreading sentient intelligences throughout the Universe, the Universe gains greater appreciation and meaning. (full article available here)

Conclusion

When humanity can collect itself around a common set of goals, there is little we cannot achieve. At the highest level, these goals should be to survive and perpetuate happiness. It’s a massive undertaking, and one which might never be complete, but it is certainly worth the ride.

Stay tuned for more articles to come on the topics covered herein.

medium.com - Humanity's Goals. “When our goals align with our shared… | - Medium

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