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Life doesn’t exist to serve a purpose. Bugs like roaches exist because they are successful in their niche as scavenger insects. As long as they survive and reproduce that is all that’s needed for them to exist and continue existing.
The other 3 posts (as of now) are 100% correct. But I'll add that most roaches eat decaying matter in forests. So if "what's the point" means "why not kill them" then one answer is that they serve an enormous recycling role, especially for hard to break down stuff like wood from dead trees.
Also, like most animals, if you're not an apex predator, you are a food source for something. And, I guess, even apex predators can be a food source once they die.
Cockroaches serve two major roles in the ecosystem.
They break down decaying plant and animal matter and recycle it into nutrients. Cockroaches are scavengers who consume dead plants and animals, and their frass (poop) is very rich in nitrogen, supporting plant growth to provide food for other animals.
They are a food source. Many animals, such as birds and lizards, eat insects as their primary source of food. Many of these species would starve if not for cockroaches. Even other, larger insects eat smaller insects.
They serve as a decomposer in the wild, helping break down organic matter and turning it into nitrogen that plants need. They also serve as a food source for anything that can catch it. Sorry all the other answerers are such Debbie downers
Ignoring what role roaches might’ve played in the preindustrial and current food chains:
Evolution does not involve sentient control or a plan of any kind. Evolution is simply a process, through which less adaptable species are more likely to die off, and more adaptable species are more likely to survive.
Within the context of evolution, there are only three priorities that matter for an organism. 1) Grow mature enough to fuck, 2) fuck, and 3) help make sure your kids grow old enough to fuck.
You’ll notice that purpose is not in that list. This is because purpose is a concept created by humans, and has never been a factor that influenced the evolution of any species. The process of evolution does not care about purpose, the only thing that matters within its framework is getting to adulthood and reproducing.
Gonna disagree with others here and point out that roaches do actually have an important benefit to the food chain: they break down wood and dead bugs. That's why you commonly find them in old houses. They found rotting wood and are breaking it down.
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Life doesn’t exist to serve a purpose. Bugs like roaches exist because they are successful in their niche as scavenger insects. As long as they survive and reproduce that is all that’s needed for them to exist and continue existing.
Living things don't "serve a purpose" or "have a point" per se, they simply live well enough to make more things like them, that then do the same.
What purpose do you serve?
Zing
The point of roaches is to eat, survive and make other roaches to do the same thing.
Same as all live
The other 3 posts (as of now) are 100% correct. But I'll add that most roaches eat decaying matter in forests. So if "what's the point" means "why not kill them" then one answer is that they serve an enormous recycling role, especially for hard to break down stuff like wood from dead trees.
Also, like most animals, if you're not an apex predator, you are a food source for something. And, I guess, even apex predators can be a food source once they die.
"Life is not a question - there does not need to be an answer." - Random Korvax encounter
Cockroaches serve two major roles in the ecosystem.
They break down decaying plant and animal matter and recycle it into nutrients. Cockroaches are scavengers who consume dead plants and animals, and their frass (poop) is very rich in nitrogen, supporting plant growth to provide food for other animals.
They are a food source. Many animals, such as birds and lizards, eat insects as their primary source of food. Many of these species would starve if not for cockroaches. Even other, larger insects eat smaller insects.
They serve the purpose of propagating the genes of their DNA.
They serve as a decomposer in the wild, helping break down organic matter and turning it into nitrogen that plants need. They also serve as a food source for anything that can catch it. Sorry all the other answerers are such Debbie downers
Ignoring what role roaches might’ve played in the preindustrial and current food chains:
Evolution does not involve sentient control or a plan of any kind. Evolution is simply a process, through which less adaptable species are more likely to die off, and more adaptable species are more likely to survive.
Within the context of evolution, there are only three priorities that matter for an organism. 1) Grow mature enough to fuck, 2) fuck, and 3) help make sure your kids grow old enough to fuck.
You’ll notice that purpose is not in that list. This is because purpose is a concept created by humans, and has never been a factor that influenced the evolution of any species. The process of evolution does not care about purpose, the only thing that matters within its framework is getting to adulthood and reproducing.
Gonna disagree with others here and point out that roaches do actually have an important benefit to the food chain: they break down wood and dead bugs. That's why you commonly find them in old houses. They found rotting wood and are breaking it down.