Oooh...I like this one; random thoughts after a night shift:
In essence, looking for the answer can only lead to madness as there is simply no way we (man) can reasonably explain why we are here, why we exist. Its easy to explain HOW we got here, but anyone who thinks they can explain WHY is lying becuase nobody can truely know the answer.
The Answer
Life, simply put, is what you make of it, whether its forfilling the basic biological need, procreation, kids, family etc or ploughing your own road and aquiring knowledge for the greater good.
(Religion)
(Religion is the paranoia of Mankind, we have never quite come to terms with our own awarness/ existance - 'I am here, why am I here' so have to come up with a good excuse).
The culprit:
The brain is an electrically powered biological machine and as a consiquence, is not very well shielded against external influence. Hence our (Man's) constant need for answers to things we dont understand and, as a cosniquence, the actions we undertake.
Reallity
Man
is alone, we can empathise only to a certain extent with another individual but can never actually 'feel' exactly what another person feels, only a parody of what they are thinking. The millions of actions that can influence a individual's mind on a decision means there can never truely be a consensus on a group action. This leads onto imagination - stories, fantasies, adding anthropomorphic personalities to animals, etc.
Childhood
We are conditioned to accept what we see - child imprinting shapes what our adulthood will be like. It is correct to look back on your childhood with rose tinted glasses as you were littlerally 'new' - a sponge, a blank sheet of paper, a clean whiteboard ready to accept or deny what the world had waiting for you.
Deeeeeaaath
Death awaits us all, what is on the otherside is the driving force behind everything. Personally, I cannot believe that the spark of the individual simply ceases to exist, yet, this is probably the sad truth. However, when a good friend/ loved one dies, they do really live on in our minds, we can recall an action or a phraise at anytime that will instantly make us laugh or cry or smile.
Conclusion (with surprise ending):
42.
