(Note--this is a posting where I'm basically brainstorming. Feel free to dispute it, agree with it, quibble with it, whatever--but don't require me to agree with it, even though I wrote it).
If you've never heard of this concept, it's an interesting one to ponder. The idea is something like this--in purely evolutionary terms, the point of a living being is to create more living beings like itself. The point of a tree is to make more trees. The point of a fish is to make more fish. And the point of a human being is to make little human beings.
What does this have to do with the larger topic here?
Well, I was thinking about the title topic this morning and it occurred to me that it results in a rather bleak view of the world. The purpose of life is to produce more life (that's not so bad, but it really doesn't feel particularly meaningful).
But we're human beings. And we want and need to make meaning out of things. We're pretty good at it, really, whether the meanings we come up with are "true" or not. There are plenty of people who would argue that concepts like "G-d" and religion are attempts to impose meaning on human existence.
And again, what does this have to do with "chosenness"?
And my answer is that identifying ourselves (through our religion) as "chosen" provides an additional layer of meaning. Not only can one believe in a higher power, but one can believe that the higher power has assigned a higher purpose to life than mere procreation.
Which is to say that we were "chosen" to deliver an important message to humanity. As far as I know, Judaism not only presented monotheism to the world, but also presented a fundamentally altruistic message. And if you think about it, if the primary purpose of life is to reproduce, a secondary purpose is to protect your offspring. Extending the purpose to protecting (and therefore being decent to) other people's offspring, even beyond your own immediate community, is a substantial development.
