But are we fit for purpose?

Right now our news is dominated by stories of schools and hospitals on the point of collapse because they were built with substandard materials. Just to cheer us all up. They’re no longer ‘fit for purpose’ and probably never were. It’s making me wonder about the people who use these buildings – are we fit for purpose? If we’re lucky, we come into this world fully equipped to develop everything we need to lead contented, healthy lives, but people aren’t straightforward and things rarely go according to plan. What about me, I wonder, am I fit for purpose? I suppose I’d need to figure out what my purpose was first and then conduct a full structural survey and risk assessment before I could answer the question. I suppose biologically my purpose is to reproduce and I’ve done that, so I’ve fulfilled the requirements of my species and can probably toddle off now into the great beyond. Except that I don’t seem to be going anywhere, except on holiday.

Maybe that’s what my purpose now is: to stimulate the economy by keeping the travel industry afloat, so to speak. I know this responsibility doesn’t rest entirely on my shoulders, but I’m happy to do my part. Which is why I’m going to Uganda next year to visit gorillas. Although I’m fit enough for the purpose of tramping around fields and reluctantly tackling the garden, I know I’m not in good enough shape for trekking through the jungle. I’ll have to seriously improve my fitness by next August if I’m to have any hope of visiting those gorillas in their natural habitat. It might even involve a visit to the gym, which hasn’t been my natural habitat for some time. That’s the structural survey sorted out, but I’m not even going to think about the risk assessment. Don’t meet trouble halfway is my motto.

But surely we weren’t put on this earth simply to produce babies and go on package trips to Spain? Humans are remarkable creatures. Our brains contain approximately 86 billion neurons, which can send 1,000 impulses a second. It is true that other species are able to communicate, but only people can talk to each other in one or more of the many thousands of languages available to them. Our manual dexterity is unequalled in the animal kingdom and although we are not the only creatures with opposable thumbs, the others don’t seem to use theirs for scrolling on their phones searching for pizza delivery places. Which probably says something profound about our evolutionary progress, but I’m not sure what.

I really don’t know how we should be using these wonderful gifts. I once read that everything you needed to know about life could be found in the pages of Middlemarch, so I searched for quotes from George Eliot. She offers a compassionate view on why we’re here: “What do we live for, if not to make life less difficult for each other?” Although I can’t help but laugh at Jane Austen’s less charitable take on this: “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?” Perhaps the best piece of life advice comes from Hippocrates, who counselled medics to do no harm, which is certainly something we could all aspire to (warmongering tyrants and egomaniacal billionaires take note). He was also a great believer in the benefits of exercise, but I don’t think gyms would have been his natural habitat either. Apparently, the ancient Greeks lifted animals and stones for strength. I think I’ll start my exercise regime slowly by lifting Jasper onto my knee and progress from there.