Life Without Spirituality
What does everyone agree are attributes of man's life on earth? As one of millions of animal species, man's homo sapiens species has its own characteristic arrangement of genetic code. While each human is slightly different from the next, resulting in variations of gender, race, height, weight, hair color, and countless other identifying traits, the vast majority of the genetic code is the same that defines homo sapiens from other species. Built into this genetic code are inherited needs that have been studied by psychologists and anthropologists. They are generally categorized into two groups: survival needs and intellect oriented needs.
We all need food, water, air, and sleep to keep our bodies alive, as well as security from the elements and predators. These are the basic survival needs. If we can satisfy survival needs well enough, then intellect oriented needs become more important to us. Intellect oriented needs are generated in our minds. They include emotional needs fulfilled by membership, friendship, and love, as well as self-esteem needs which are satisfied with acquired knowledge, acquired skills, and providing leadership. All humans, at different points in their lives, have a mixture of all these needs in various intensities. When we are babies, our parents help us meet our survival needs. But when we are self-sustaining adults, we satisfy our intellect oriented needs by being productive members of societal groups. As we become older with less time remaining before death, and as we mature with more life experience, the mix and priority of needs changes.
Over many thousands of years, man has found that needs are satisfied more effectively by cooperating with others, and our great civilizations have resulted that provide individuals with more opportunity to satisfy needs. We have found that we can serve our needs better by forming a barter economy of buyers and sellers, by agreeing to create and obey laws, by supporting government to provide civic, military, and social services, and by educating the young. Education transfers knowledge of the sciences from those with it to those without it. Societies have found that spreading knowledge yields even more knowledge, generation after generation, which makes science more productive in satisfying our needs.
Sciences are organized into the natural sciences that describe nature, such as biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics, and into the social sciences that describe man's interactive behavior, such as anthropology, psychology, sociology, and economics. All scientific knowledge is developed using the scientific method of proposing a theory about how an observable phenomenon works and then proving the theory with reproducible empirical results. Science must have reliability since man depends on it to harness nature's resources for the purpose of satisfying man's needs more effectively.
Mankind may be the only animal species that is aware of inevitable death. But despite the uncertainty of never knowing the exact future date of death, man still works hard to survive, thrive and enjoy temporary, secular life. The drive to satisfy needs is powerful and sustainable even in the face of competition with others, such as for better jobs, for love, or for recognition. Man strives to accumulate wealth which serves to satisfy needs more effectively. Wealth takes four principal forms. The most obvious is material wealth, which is simply the accumulation of currency or assets which can then buy things that satisfy many kinds of needs. There is also emotional wealth that comes from investing in relationships with other people, such as becoming parents or developing friendships. The third form is intellectual wealth. Someone who has specialized knowledge is more valuable to society than someone who does not. Intellectual wealth can help satisfy self-actualizing needs. Time is the fourth form of wealth. It is really the amount of free leisure time available that is valuable, not the obligated time to do required things demanded by others. More time provides more opportunity to satisfy needs that we want to satisfy. These four forms of wealth are useful to satisfy earthly needs and disappear upon death.
