[One, Two, Middlesboogie]

Tom is right in that's what genes 'tell' us to do... all genes 'care' about (be careful not to take that too literally; genes can't think) is themselves, even if it's at the expense of other genes they share their host with, or even if it's at the expense of the host itself. As Richard Dawkins puts it, "that is why we love life and love sex and love children." It is beneficial to our genes if we like things that are good for us and dislike things that are bad for us. That is why we dislike pain (which could kill us, and thus our genes, which they don't 'want'), and enjoy sex (which creates copies of our genes and spreads them, which is what they 'want').

However, humans tend not to think of themselves in those terms, and most of us distance ourselves from associations from our genes. Many people don't even like the idea of us being 'slaves' to little chromosomes, mitochondria and cistrons.

Personally, I go with Dave Lister's theory on the meaning of life:
"The meaning of life is to experience everything you can. Remember, life is not a rehearsal. At least, I hope it's not. I'd hate to have to go through all this crap six times a week and twice on Saturdays."

Edit: on th pyramids... experts say that it was possible for the ancient Eygptian dudies to build them; it would have just taken them a long time. Apparently, records say that the Great Pyramid of Khufu took ten years to build.

[ January 01, 2002: Message edited by: One, Two, Middlesboogie ]