Disclaimer: Everything described in this article is assumption and should be treated as “thoughts on the subject” rather than an attempt to describe the absolute truth. The model presented is also simplified and does not cover all possible aspects.
Once upon a time, there was nothing in the world. Or, at least, there was no one who could say what was there. It is unknown how long this lasted before the first conscious entity appeared. It is unknown where this entity came from or what it was like in the beginning. The entity began observing the world and exploring it, its contents, and its processes. It could also influence the world in some way (although it is possible that all of this was actually happening in its imagination, and the entire world existed only in the imagination of this entity; however, that is not particularly important). Exploring the world was quite interesting, but over time, there was nothing left in it to explore. The entity then began experimenting and creating new objects itself. A countless variety of objects were created (although, at this point, they were probably relatively simple). But over time, this activity also ceased to be interesting.
Having lost all interest in the world and existence, the entity wanted to cease existing, but it did not know how to do so. After all, the entity had no physical form; it was simply “consciousness” (perhaps some kind of energy-information structure). In a state of despair (and anger), the entity even tried to destroy the world in the hope that it would disappear along with it, but the attempt failed.
Time passed, no other entities were found, and, as happens to people who spend a long time alone, the entity began talking to itself (of course, language as we know it did not exist back then, so this “communication” probably took place through images). Over time, this internal dialogue began to generate relatively independent streams of thought that started forming separate personalities. They became increasingly numerous, and the interactions between them increasingly chaotic. This phenomenon was similar to what is now called multiple personality disorder, except that there were far more than two personalities.
And then the entity came up with an idea: to separate its “personalities.” This would solve two problems at once. First, the entity would cease to exist as a single whole (it would no longer possess the same unified, indivisible consciousness it had before). Second, it would no longer be lonely (because the separated personalities could interact with one another without being part of a single whole).
Simply separating the personalities did not work; they kept returning and merging into one whole. After extensive experimentation, it was discovered that it was possible to place a part of its essence into the objects it had created. However, the simple objects that already existed could accommodate only a tiny fraction of the entity. The experiments continued and eventually yielded results. Certain more complex objects were capable of accommodating a significantly larger portion of the entity. These objects could also perform certain limited actions, move, and interact with other objects. Thus, the very first “living” objects appeared — single-celled microorganisms (perhaps something else preceded them, but that is not important for now). They could not accommodate an entire personality, but this was significant progress. The work continued. First, different types of microorganisms were created and their “capacity” was compared. Later, multicellular organisms were created.
The process of evolution began. Only not in the way we are accustomed to thinking about it. Living organisms did not change on their own; instead, new ones were created based on the experience gained from previous ones. (And this entire process had one goal: to divide the entity into separate entities.)
The creation of reptiles was something of a breakthrough. Their “capacity” was so much greater than that of their predecessors that an idea emerged: perhaps it would be enough simply to make them bigger? And so the dinosaurs appeared. Unfortunately, the experiment proved unsuccessful. Increasing size did not significantly increase capacity to accommodate the entity’s essence. Moreover, as the large lizards required too many resources from the experimental environment, they all had to be eliminated.
Time passed, and newer and better types of creatures were created. Finally, a being that could accommodate one (or perhaps even more than one) of the entity’s “personalities” was created. It was “the pinnacle of creation”. The history of humanity began.
Another step toward the goal had been taken, but it was not enough. In addition to the “vessels” themselves, it was necessary to create an ecosystem that was self-sufficient and self-sustaining. And here, further difficulties arose. The “personalities” contained fragments of the entity from which they had been created, inheriting all the qualities and emotions that the original entity had experienced and accumulated throughout its existence. These included not only curiosity, the joy of discovering something new, and love for what it had created, but also despair, anger, boredom, and the urge to destroy and self-destruct. As a result, alongside their other activities, humans also began to engage in destructive behavior, harming themselves, one another, and the environment in which they lived, ultimately leading to the collapse of the system.
It is impossible to know for certain, but it would not be surprising if humanity had been created several times with different settings and modifications, each attempt ending in its extinction. Maybe that is why we have numerous prophecies and descriptions of the apocalypse, because this has happened before, and the parameters of the current version have not been changed significantly, meaning the outcome is already known in advance (something like restarting a program during development to gather additional information).
It is also possible to speculate that the various ways of structuring the world found in mythology and different religions — with gods endowed with greater powers who were supposed to maintain order, or with reincarnation and the regulation of human capabilities through karma — were also models that had been considered (or even implemented) but ultimately failed.
So, what happens next? Most likely, humanity will perish (once again) and be created anew using the information gathered. Considering the biblical descriptions, personalities that negatively affected the balance of the system might be isolated in “hell.” However, it would not even be necessary to create a separate place for this purpose. Their ability to cause harm could be restricted in other ways, such as being born without any limbs or even a tongue, while their existence would be artificially sustained without the possibility of ending it. What else could such an existence be called if not “hell”? No pitchforks or cauldrons of fire are necessary. However, these harmful personalities still need to be dealt with one way or another, since they are part of the original entity and cannot simply be destroyed. And if this model fails, the experiment will continue until the human system becomes self-sufficient, stable, and sustainable in the long term.
And what, then, is the meaning of life? The purpose of humanity’s existence, for which it was created, is to exist for as long as possible (ideally, forever). The purpose of each individual human life, in this case, is simply to live, not to make life worse for others, and not to damage the environment in which one lives. Generally speaking, religious commandments, philosophical teachings, and ethical systems often boil down to precisely this.
On Evolution and the Laws of Nature
The theory of evolution is also worth discussing. At one time, it became a good alternative to the theological theory of creationism, and its emergence generally made it possible to look at the world more critically. Nevertheless, it has its shortcomings. The absence of fossil remains representing intermediate stages between species is often mentioned, and the reason for this has been described above.
But there is something more important. Nature (understood here in terms of the laws of physics) tends toward equilibrium. And in a state of equilibrium, changes generally do not occur. In other words, the emergence of life itself is arguably already an unnatural phenomenon, not to mention its development from simpler forms to more complex ones.
Even if we assume that life did emerge, the theory of evolution is based on mechanisms such as heredity and variation. In other words, at some point, an individual with new characteristics appears by chance, these characteristics are then inherited, and this eventually leads to the emergence of a new species.
In reality, however, differences from the rest of the population may greatly reduce an individual's chances of reproducing. Even in relatively tolerant modern human societies, people who are somehow different may still face difficulties fitting in and being accepted by others. In more primitive forms of population and in the wild, such individuals may be left without food, driven away, killed, or even eaten. This often happens immediately after birth, leaving them with almost no chance of producing offspring.
On God and Religion
From what has been described above, it follows that humanity was created by a certain entity as its own incarnation, and this entity is commonly referred to in society as God.
If humanity is an incarnation of God, then to some extent it has access to the knowledge and information that God possesses. This is why information about humanity’s origins surfaces in various forms, with the Bible being one such example. What is written there is most likely true, but it was recorded by people in the form they were capable of expressing it in. It is still an excellent source of information for analysis and reflection, but it should not be accepted unthinkingly.
And here, it is impossible not to mention religion. The only connection religion has to God is that it uses the concept of God as part of its business model. Religion and the system of religious institutions constitute a business, a fairly successful one, because the concepts it deals with resonate with something deep within human beings.
But God does not care about religion. It does not matter whether people believe in God or not, and God certainly does not need donations, churches, or rituals. Humanity was created as an embodiment of God and do not need to believe in God as an external source of support, because humanity needs to exist without God, because humanity itself is God.
“Love your neighbor as yourself” does not mean loving your neighbor as much as you love yourself. It means realizing that you and your neighbor are one and the same, that your neighbor is you. Of course, this does not work so simply. A person may dislike certain aspects of themselves, or even dislike themselves as a whole, so loving a part of oneself in the form of another person may not easy either. Nevertheless, there is no harm in trying.
Christians will naturally have a question about Jesus. Was he the Son of God? Yes, he was, but in the same sense that all people are God’s children. It is possible that Jesus was born with knowledge of humanity and its purpose. He never called on people to worship him as God, and he did not even call on people to worship God. He preached a way of life and an attitude toward others that would make the survival of humanity as a system easier and more effective.
On Reproduction
Probably nothing actually new will be told here, but reproduction is another subject that would be interesting to examine from the point of view of described model. One of the necessary conditions was that the created system of living organisms be capable of existing independently and sustainably. From a logical point of view, reproducing makes no sense for any living creature, since it only leads to the need to spend time and resources raising offspring without providing any real benefits. Therefore, to motivate creatures to reproduce, a system of hormonal activity and interaction between individuals had to be introduced.
A balance had to be maintained, because if reproductive activity were too low, the population would decline and eventually become extinct. Conversely, if activity were too high, the population could grow to such an extent that the rate of resource consumption would exceed the rate at which those resources were replenished. As a result, the ecosystem would be disrupted, resources would be depleted, and extinction would follow once again.
The hormonal system worked perfectly well for simpler creatures (animals), but in the case of humans, it began to malfunction. If it was sufficient to establish reproduction as an instinct in animals, humans (who, to some extent, can act against their instincts) also had to be given an element of pleasure (a reward, as it is called in psychology). In the early stages of human development, when there were not many forms of entertainment, this became an excellent incentive for population growth. At later stages, when a wide variety of entertainment options emerged, the rate of reproduction declined.
The system works, but at the same time, it appears somewhat unstable, because reproductive rates could fall so low that humanity would be unable to sustain its population and would eventually become extinct (trends pointing in this direction can already be observed in some countries).
Another factor is worth mentioning in this regard. In the past, starting a family was significantly more beneficial. Responsibilities were distributed in certain ways, and this also made survival easier than it would have been individually. In the modern world, survival has become much easier, and therefore many people do not want to limit themselves with certain obligations or put up with circumstances arising from living together with another person.