Meaning, purpose and identity is at the heart of existence. The idea that each thing has its own purpose, behaviour patterns and therefore identity and meaning in the grand scheme of life. It seems that evolution is built on the concept of trying many things out, numerous times until it settles on something that works in balance for the favour of the individual, being organism or element, within the environment and greater cosmos.
Physics, Chemistry, Biology
We can see this behaviour within the different sciences. At the base of existence are the subatomic particles, coming together to create particles and atoms. The atoms created behave in a certain way. Hydrogen atoms fuse at 10 million degrees, not above or below. When they fuse, it creates different isotopes with particular behaviours. While we may not fully appreciate why or how, this is the result. H₂ is hydrogen gas.
Within the realms of chemistry, elements behave in certain ways when they are structured in certain ways. Carbon is one of the most versatile of elements, coming together to in various manners under various temperatures, to produce a range of different structures serving different purposes. It is essential for organic compounds, the building blocks of life. In a certain structure, carbon forms diamond, one of the hardest minerals known to man, transparent and coveted. In another form, carbon forms graphite, used for drawing, a soft and dark form capable of breaking apart very easily.
In biology, each organism behaves in a certain way to suit its environment. Over time, different traits and body plans will form to give each organism advantages or subsequent disadvantages if the environment changes rapidly. While organisms may not be capable of giving meaning to themselves, they certainly are aware of the identity of various food stuffs, and potential predators and means of hiding and evading them. This could be said to begin the idea of denoting meaning to things in our world and thus drawing our purpose and identity from them.
Humans today
Today we have many resources we can access that give us a sense of meaning and purpose, structure for our everyday lives. Not just defining the physical world around us for survival purposes, to ensure we don’t walk in front of a car, but also social and within the abstractions of society. Roles in life (family, friends, partner, colleague), religion, science, philosophy, social media, money, work and business, travelling.
We are very successful at giving meaning to things and passing this information onto the next generation in order to continue the meaning, giving purpose and identity without realising it. A few theories behind this. One is collective learning principle from the courses on Big History, whereby our ability to collectively as a species learn things, store them and pass them on, is unique to us. Also the ability to tell stories and believe in fictions explained in Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harrari.
Population increase and beliefs
The population of humans has gone from a few thousand, 100,000 years ago to 8 billion today. Even then, it was only in 1804 that the population stood at 1 billion.
With an increase in population, comes an increase in creativity, innovation, belief systems and conflicts between those belief systems. It is said that humans know approximately 150 – 200 people on a close intimate level, enough to have relationships with that many people and have their own tribe and beliefs. This is commonly seen in religious institutions and native tribal communities. When the numbers get too big, we tend to branch out and form separate communities with similar beliefs to keep within that level.
With the advent of agriculture and the formation of towns and cities with thousands of people living in close proximity, this wasn’t really possible. The close knit communities of 150-200 formed within these larger communities and naturally would form their own belief systems and rules. This is where conflict arises between groups, even on the smallest difference of belief, huge conflicts can erupt.
However as the population grew, more discoveries and ideas were shared, and more niches of ideas and beliefs were created. There are larger belief systems that these smaller ones sit in, it wouldn’t be practical on a large societal level to have so many small groups of different beliefs with nothing bringing them together, it would be chaos and they would have destroyed each other a long time ago.
Our society has managed to evolve and grow on this basis, with the larger sets of beliefs pulling large numbers of people together, and within that to have niches and areas where people can express themselves and have a community of a smaller number.
Evolving from other species in the Homo genus
We are pattern seeking organisms like many others, this is what helps us to survive in the ‘wild’, however we have evolved evolutionary benefits. Our ancestors, previous species from the Homo genus, also displayed some traits we possess.
They were able to create tools, the ability to take something in its natural form and literally change its meaning and purpose to suit their needs at the time, creating primitive weapons to hunt prey and likely other tribes. Evidence of the use of fire dates back a few hundred thousand years, the ability to purposefully play with the elements and to use it to cook food. The gut then evolved to process cooked food, or rather it was easier to break down cooked food over raw food which can take a while.
Social constructs
Complex social hierarchies are present in other primates along with behaviours socially. This just exacerbated when we grew in number. Yet we are able to communicate and coordinate in huge numbers with flexible rules compared to other species, as described in Sapiens. This is because we believe in shared stories, and adhere to the rules under those stories, they bring us and bind us together to live together in close proximity.
This belief system underpins the ancient traditions surrounding death and burials, creating stories of the creator, erecting huge stone temples dating back 9,000 years. Also the ability to look up to the sky and in the attempt to understand it and assign meaning to the patterns in the skies, stories were created around them. Leading to astrology, creation stories, constellations and the continued study of the sky. This is part of abstract thought.
Creativity and innovation
Abstract though leads into creativity and innovation, the ability to create something new out of basic materials and ingredients, to create something new and abstract in concept and purpose. This is evidence in the figurines and sculptress of old, jewellery, old instruments, cave art, geoglyphs and undoubtedly the thousands of other things created that are lost to time.
Other species in the Homo genus displayed creative abilities, however Homo sapiens to take it to the next level of creativity and innovation, constantly building on what was before, coming up with inventive ways of doing things and new stories to believe in.
Institutions and abstract rules
This abstract thinking and assigning meaning leads to rituals and religions, to the belief that there are living gods that rule over us on Earth, who have since become governments. The abstract concepts further lead to the formation of rules, of institutions, of money, of companies, of the internet, of crypto currency, that have little physical form but demand great respect, importance and rules in the usage of.
The belief in these abstract concepts permeates society across the globe, that these are the most important things because that it what everyone else believes. These beliefs assign meaning, purpose and identity on an individual level as well as on a societal level. we are conscious enough however to create our own meaning and identity, but we live in part of a wider society and are hardwired to at least want to be part of it on some level, so we are not ostracised and cast out.
Language
Passing on the meanings of objects and concepts to the next generation requires communication and in this case, detailed communication. Language, spoken and written, is the basis of this. There is evidence that previous Homo species could speak but not necessarily with the intricacies that we can, this is based on analysing their skeleton structure around the throat area. Languages have evolved to include immense variation in its structure. There are several types of languages such as alphabets, syllabaries and abugidas. Each one has its own rules and structure for creating words and adjusting them to suit different meanings.
With language comes the written word, first imprinted into clay and stone and evolving into eloquent writing tools and systems. Passing on information via writing is an evolution from passing on information via spoken language. Spoken language has the ability to change over time, with new embellishments of the speaker. While written language has the same ability, the written form lasts longer in its original form so creates a new level of passing on information. Interpretation is another thing, is depends on the reader and their personal experience however general interpretation is possible as we come from societies with the same general beliefs.
The internet and computers are the new form of the written language, in typed form, easily written and edited, far more accessible to the masses than books, and with the ability to be far more convoluted. The means of communication, new rules to believe in and the accessibility of such information, is only growing.
Art and colour
Art comes in many forms and has gone through many phases and movements, according to the needs and beliefs of the society at that time. Humans are drawn to beautiful things, things that inspire and evoke certain emotions for them. The interpretation and meaning derived from art can be very subjective.
Colour is very interesting. While it has definite physical properties on the spectrum of visible light with particular wavelengths, the interpretations of colour vary across cultures and times. For example, particular pigments simply denoted status because they were hard to get hold of and labour intensive to produce therefore only the wealthiest could afford them. This meant that whatever the colour, it was a symbol of wealth. As soon as cheaper versions of pigments became available, that status dropped, the meaning changed and so did the identity of wearing purple or red as nobility or royalty.
Colours have come and gone out of fashion and changed meaning at the same time. Yellow was popular with American suffragettes and protests, yet in France, it is the colour of Envy. The Nazi’s made the Jews wear yellow badges to identify themselves, in prelude to the concentration camps.
It comes in line with the population increase mentioned above. As it increases, so do the ideas and beliefs. With colour, there are a handful of colours with thousands of hues and shades of each one. Whilst these colour representations across cultures would have varied in hue or shade, they are collectively seen as yellow or black or red. It is commented by research that the more words a language or culture has for various colours, the more colours they use and their subsequent meaning and purpose for them, increases. It is only in recent times, in the world of design that many more names have been added to the English language to describe the various tones of colour. In some cultures and in many native tribal communities, there are very few words to describe colours and so the use and meaning of colour reflects that.
Science
Discoveries in science have created new meanings for us on so many new levels. Taxonomy describes the process of evolution, the tree of life, giving names and defining characteristics to species in order to understand our place in it all.
The discoveries of subatomic particles, of chemical elements, and of discovering what everything in the universe is made of, is meaning and purpose on a new level.
To understand our human bodies and how they work in fine detail. We still don’t know everything but new meaning have been able to cure many diseases and put many more at bay. We are also discovering more about the brain and the mind, in relation to psychology. New meanings and definitions are arising constantly for personality types, various disorders, to understand why we do the things we do, to explain our patterns of behaviour in order to give us understanding.
The fields within science and other disciplines are constantly increasing with new discoveries. Each new discovery can have a field of its own, somewhat relating to the 150-200 people community. When you drill down to the people who are working on the niches within niches, it is usually a small community of people.
Hierarchy of needs
Abraham Maslow in 1943 identified a hierarchy of human needs. At the base is the physiological needs like food, clothing and shelter. Next is safety and security like health, work, family and socials. Love and belonging is next, friendship intimacy and connection. Self-esteem is next including confidence, achievement and respect of others. At the top is self-actualisation which includes morality, creativity, meaning and purpose.
The higher needs are more long-term and psychological rather than the base needs which are more about the here and now and physical needs.
I have explored here many ways in which humans have evolved to assign meaning, purpose and identity to the world around us, to society and civilization and to abstract concepts. There are undoubtedly many ways which I haven’t discussed here but it is a great starting point. To understand who we are, our place in the world and where we come from, is at the heart of the human curiosity.
