Heather Havrilesky talks to George Carlin | Salon Arts & Entertainment
The meaning of life is life itself. It has its own rationale. I think it [began] spontaneously from a number of chemical and electrical processes, coming together — it seems that that’s a fair theory that I’ve read, the other ones are harder to believe. It’s just, here we are. And then, the age of the reptiles was in full swing when an asteroid — that’s another good theory — an asteroid came along 65 million years ago, and wiped out the reptiles by blocking out the sun and killing the growing season and they ate greens so they couldn’t get any meat and they disappeared, and the ferrets grew up into little mammals and the primate line developed and here we are. I don’t think we’re here on the divine order. I think we’re here because a big rock hit the Earth, and I don’t know what’s next, maybe it’ll be the cockroaches. It’d be nice if the insects had a chance. But I think this is all happenstance, and the fact that we have consciousness and this thing we call a soul, this is also all part of the chemical and electrical process. I don’t know that it has any real deeper meaning, but it sure feels different from ordinary physical life; I know that. There’s something ineffable here. I don’t know what it is or how to describe it or what to think about it.
Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.
Pff. The insects had their chance. Several, actually. Exoskeletons impose an upper limit on individual body weight, and the eusocial colony species are too inflexible and niche-bound. An innovation like an eusocial roach could get around these limitations, but the roaches have been around without changing much for a really long time, so I don’t think that’s too likely.
Let’s face it, at this point if another rock were to hit Earth, it would most likely be mammals all over again.