IMO, it's your response that's odd, Carrol. I think the question why are we here is what preoccupies people on this list -- yourself included -- most. If it didn't, we would be content to go with the solipsistic, consumerist flow of this society and join that young man in Boca Raton whom Doug quoted earlier: "I don't like to worry about the world's problems. I'm a happier person if I stay centered on myself."
Why spend so much time worrying about things you are powerless to change unless you believe there is some larger meaning to life that compels you to assume this burden?
Carl Remick