I have wondered for the longest time if there's a word for a process in which a non-human, mechanical, chemical, etc, factor or process seems to have a purpose. What reminded me was this FRDB post (You have to however be a member to read this thread, one of the mysteries of FRDB with its massively complex algorithm)

http://www.freeratio.org/showthread.php?t=267086

Another example might be God's or (if you're a pantheist) the World's purpose using disease and starvation to counter overpopulation. In fact I recall this an assertion of the Church as a preferable alternative to birth control

Another--in view of screen sucking and humans' attachment to devices such as the iPod and cellphone--is the apparent purpose of the digital world to enslave us

dalehileman