According to scientific materialism, we human beings are just chemical machines (“throwaway survival machines,” to quote the arch-materialist Richard Dawkins) whose only purpose is to survive and reproduce, so that our genes can continue. Otherwise there isn’t really much of consequence in our lives. We may attempt to create other kinds of meaning – for example, by following a religion, trying to become rich or famous, or trying to make the world a better place – but all we’re really doing is following our genetic and neurological programming. Even our consciousness – the feeling of having experience inside our own heads – may not really exist, or is just a kind of shadow of our brain activity.