Suppose I find a piece of strange-looking code on my computer and ask, "Does this code have a purpose?" The following seem to be reasonable possible answers:

1. Yes, it was written to serve some useful function.
2. No, it's a functionally null piece of code that the programmer forgot to remove.
3. No, it seems to be the result of some kind of copying error.
4. Yes, it's a backdoor deliberately inserted by a previous intruder.
5. No, it's a security vulnerability that the original programmer accidentally created.

The following do not seem to be reasonable answers:

• a) Yes, it's an accidental vulnerability whose purpose for an attacker is to use it to hack my machine.
• b) Yes, its purpose is for me to show off my testing/debugging skills to my boss.

It seems that at least in some cases when I ask "Does this thing have a purpose?" the kind of answer I'm looking for includes "someone deliberately created it" but excludes "it's valuable for someone". If "Does life have a purpose?" is like this, whether or not other people value my life wouldn't to be relevant to answering it.