The everlasting human goal of attaining a meaningful existence

The term existence, as I put it forth in this, represents more than simply the existence which is shared by all living and non living things, that being the quality of physical reality (a rock actually exists, as does a tree, insect, snake, dog, cow, and man); by existence, I intend it to mean those qualities (and the implications thereof) which make humans unique among all other "existing" objects. Though science has shown that many other creatures are social and can communicate even relatively complicated ideas amongst themselves, these animals are no closer to achieving the ability to record and document these new ideas easily.

There are many biological qualities unique to human existence which allow for a more advanced introspective understanding of the circumstances in which a given human brain is experiencing. The development of humans by social, creative, innovative, and adaptive means has allowed for the sharing and recording of ideas since the beginning of "recorded history".

-1 The development which mankind has undergone has given it a collective and ever-growing wealth of knowledge. This collective knowledge is the sum of human mental development for thousands of years, and represents everything mankind has endured and learned, planned and created, thought and dreamed. This collective knowledge is combined into each new generation, which will add its own innovations and gathered knowledge to the whole. This means that each successive generation is slightly more developed and intelligent than the one that preceded it (even if the older generation can be seen as more wise, being that they have experienced much more (on an individual basis than someone much younger, this would simply mean that the younger individual would be slightly more wise in their old age).

Also, as the human ability to efficiently share ideas (via writing, publication, and an ever increasing range of technologies) improves, the amount of knowledge possessed by each generation will greatly increase; as they are presented with access to a greater information base, one can access a huge amount of information via the internet, for example. The development of Morse communication, telephones, radio communication, printing techniques, television and other "Idea Transmission" methods have all had major impacts on people's ability to absorb global knowledge rather than just local knowledge; in times past, people would rely on the knowledge of those around them in their development, and even rudimentary school systems lacked any real central curriculum and structure; as well as no global connection and agreement as to what the general criteria for the knowledge required to be taught to students should be. This situation would have led to vast differences in the standards of education and knowledge that each individual from different cultures, and regions would be expected to know, even neighboring cities could have an astounding difference in quality of education.

One specific technique allows for a greater global connection than any other; The internet is the most effective and efficient means ever developed by humans for sharing ideas and information. It is the world largest library, it contains a wealth of information, services, and entertainment, and it is accessible from the comfort of one's own home. Simply by its existence, people are expected to know a great deal more, it's becoming more and more incorporated indivisibly from the education of children, and it's now accepted that: "If you have a question, you can find the answer on the internet, even if you do have to sift through a great deal of useless information".

So, if knowledge is the key to existence, and each development in communication has allowed for far greater access to information; therefore allowing each individual to assimilate an increased amount of knowledge; then a primary reason for existence is to learn as much as you can, and share it with others, so as to further the collective knowledge of mankind. Also, the search for this knowledge is symbolic and representational of all other human achievements and goals. As can be seen in the second argument.

-2 Another element of existence which is connected with the first one is experience, the wealth of experiences which individuals enjoy and endure, as well as how the individual copes and adapts with those experiences, throughout their lives gives each person a unique vision of the world, and a unique "tint" in their developed wisdom.

This subjectivity which exists in the mind of each living human allows for infinitely different ways an individual assimilates knowledge through experience, which therefore allows for seemingly infinite translations and viewpoints on a given topic.

The search for experiences is a worthy goal, in that it is truly just another way of developing knowledge, of learning, but unlike the knowledge gained through education, the knowledge gained through experience has not necessarily been done before, and therefore increases the chances of the development of new knowledge, which can then be added to the accumulated knowledge of the world.

Also, experience is the vehicle by which one gains wisdom, by testing the knowledge one has against the reality that presents itself everyday, and learning from mistakes made, as well as any successes or accomplishments. So, in a manner of speaking, wisdom is knowledge tempered by experience.