For what it is worth, the detour was caused by one too many statements - for rhetorical purposes, presumably - along the lines of "We don't know..." viz:
//Hypo; ///I pride myself on never preaching atheism and prefer others to reach it by their own thought processes.///
Good for you! You sound sometimes as though you were not too far remote from the sensible position of Agnosticism.
Though we now know more than we once did about ourselves and surroundings, we still do not fully understand time or space (macro and micro) nor where we come from or where we are going. We don't know why every living creature needs to sleep (and dream). We don't know if we are alone in the universe or how the universe started (and why) and quite a lot more.//
I didn't follow up the above so
1) I think I should be the one to say whether I am agnostic or not.
2) What is 'sensible' about agnosticism? Maybe start a fresh thread on that, if it
has not been done to death on AB, in the past.
3) Yes, there is much we don't know. I sincerely hope that there are
still plenty of things for curious minds to be researching into, long after I'm gone.
4) //Where we are going//
Nowhere beyond the bounds of this solar system, if we don't stop killing each other, get our act together and get on with it!
5) //Why we sleep//
Bodily repair, to a great extent. Growing, if you're under 21. Cannot hunt or gather if it is too dark to see what you're doing. Shut down metabolically expensive unnecessary functions.
6) //Why we dream//
Computery types might like to describe it as "garbage collection", or "defragging". Sifting what is going to be committed to long-term memory and what to throw away. People with poor quality sleep develop mild memory loss.
7) //The universe: Why?//
The eternal question. I insist on asking why does there have to be *any* reason for it? Why can't it just *be*?
I like things that are irrational because it leaves room for thought and imagination and speculation. (Intoxicant-fuelled, if one so chooses).
I am tempted to suggest that we forget about the why and just get on with our lives but I know that it is a basic human desire to know the answer to "what's it all for??" I'd risk being thought unromantic for pooh-poohing such wistful thoughts.