It is said that variety is the spice of life, but as it turns out variety may be the foundation of life -- that is to say, the foundation that allowed life to develop at all. It was variations in the structure and temperature of the universe during its earliest phase which allowed for the development of matter, then stars, then finally life itself.
The variations mean that some regions will be expanding slightly less fast. The slower regions eventually stop expanding and collapse again to form galaxies and stars. And, in turn, solar systems.
We owe our existence to these variations. If the early universe had been completely smooth, there would be no stars and so life could not have developed, We are the product of primordial quantum fluctuations.
Source: New Scientist, July 23, 2011
So, to answer the question "why does life exist" or even "why does matter exist," one answer is simply "because the universe was not perfectly uniform during its earliest stages." There were fluctuations, differences, and variation in the fine structure of the universe -- i.e., in the very fabric of space and time.
So we owe our existence of the existence of fluctuations, differences, and variation. Yet there are so many out there who keep insisting that we all have to adopt the same religion and religious philosophies, eliminating differences, dissent, and variety. Now we have another reason to argue, though, that demands for conformity and uniformity may be anti-life.
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