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I have thought about this a lot too. I have come to the conclusion that, however we came to be, we are extremely insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
Our significance and our purpose is only for ourselves. We simply have to come to terms with this reality.
Maybe someday we will come in contact with an advanced and benevolent alien civilization that will help us expand our presence in the universe and help our species survive for millions of years. But even that is a long shot and seems unlikely.
Nah..that's when imagination kicks in
Lot's of "what if...."
Like what if we humans are seeds from another world ?
Could there be parallel worlds ?
Time is still a mystery to us so there's a lot yet to be answered by science.
Does anyone here think about the big picture - meaning including what we know about science/space exploration and that the Universe is 93 billion light years wide or even more? Perhaps I’m the one with the issue since I have a large science background and nobody really cares and just trying to pay the bills to live another day?
That our Earth is a single grain of sand in his universe and why we are the only rocky ball full of life? Life that is full from microscopic things all the way to so many species on Earth. Or do you think humans are a special type of species due to the understanding we have of the Universe? Are we that special? I’m not sure many other animals understand we live on the planet Earth, which is in a solar system, which is part of many other solar systems, other galaxies, other clusters, etc. The best part of my day is going out at night on a non-cloudy day and just staring at the stars.
I guess what I’m saying is, I have trouble comprehending all of the detail and mundaneness we deal with here on Earth and WHY the rest of the Universe is out there. We have such complicated laws, social structures, social problems, etc and then on the big picture, we are just a fraction of the part of the Universe. We care about climate change and the Politics C-D forum is out of control here, but what about the rest of the Universe?
All this keeps me up at night and was wondering how you guys/gals handle this.
.......And I thought I was the only one left, asking such questions! I was a Philosophy Major in College back in the 1970s. Maybe that makes me a dinosaur in here? The classical, ages-old questions about TRUTH and MEANING are both things that modern (and contemporary) Philosophy has jettisoned. The whole enterprise has become word-games. So sad.
The Humanities have been hijacked by a cultural agenda which operates on the assumption that we should all be equal. That's the first mistake. We surely must all be equally valuable Ethically, morally---in terms of our shared humanity. But none of us possesses the same level of talent and acumen and legerdemain as the other guy. Most of us surely DO have skills that are better than some of our own other abilities. And so, our society fills its needs by relying upon us collectively to do what needs to be done. "To get the job done."
Yes, we are just a speck in the universe. Our PURPOSE and MEANING does not need to correspond to that relatively tiny size. How many INTELLIGENT, self-aware species have been found yet? Um, none. If we ever do uncover such, that will surely change the picture. But that's for another thread.
Does anyone here think about the big picture - meaning including what we know about science/space exploration and that the Universe is 93 billion light years wide or even more? Perhaps I’m the one with the issue since I have a large science background and nobody really cares and just trying to pay the bills to live another day?
That our Earth is a single grain of sand in his universe and why we are the only rocky ball full of life? Life that is full from microscopic things all the way to so many species on Earth. Or do you think humans are a special type of species due to the understanding we have of the Universe? Are we that special? I’m not sure many other animals understand we live on the planet Earth, which is in a solar system, which is part of many other solar systems, other galaxies, other clusters, etc. The best part of my day is going out at night on a non-cloudy day and just staring at the stars.
I guess what I’m saying is, I have trouble comprehending all of the detail and mundaneness we deal with here on Earth and WHY the rest of the Universe is out there. We have such complicated laws, social structures, social problems, etc and then on the big picture, we are just a fraction of the part of the Universe. We care about climate change and the Politics C-D forum is out of control here, but what about the rest of the Universe?
All this keeps me up at night and was wondering how you guys/gals handle this.
I have found that anything that keeps you from sleeping at night is a mental issue you need to deal with. You have to find some Jedi Mind trick to jump off your self destructive thought loops merry go round.
Try meditation, or try imagining lying on a beach feeling the sun on your face, or anything else that takes you away from that merry go round. This is not useful to worry about the whole universe, you don't have the capacity to do anything about it, just like there are social constructs you can't change on a large level, you work on what you can change, starting with the way you think. Then if you see a problem that you can address in the day to day, do what you can.
.......And I thought I was the only one left, asking such questions! I was a Philosophy Major in College back in the 1970s. Maybe that makes me a dinosaur in here? The classical, ages-old questions about TRUTH and MEANING are both things that modern (and contemporary) Philosophy has jettisoned. The whole enterprise has become word-games. So sad.
The Humanities have been hijacked by a cultural agenda which operates on the assumption that we should all be equal. That's the first mistake. We surely must all be equally valuable Ethically, morally---in terms of our shared humanity. But none of us possesses the same level of talent and acumen and legerdemain as the other guy. Most of us surely DO have skills that are better than some of our own other abilities. And so, our society fills its needs by relying upon us collectively to do what needs to be done. "To get the job done."
Yes, we are just a speck in the universe. Our PURPOSE and MEANING does not need to correspond to that relatively tiny size. How many INTELLIGENT, self-aware species have been found yet? Um, none. If we ever do uncover such, that will surely change the picture. But that's for another thread.
If you need meaning then you get to give meaning to what ever. It is yours and does not translate to anyone else. That is the point of existence in a human body on planet earth. You give meaning to your experiences and understandings, and those meanings are irrelevant to any other person.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Universe93B
Does anyone here think about the big picture - meaning including what we know about science/space exploration and that the Universe is 93 billion light years wide or even more? Perhaps I’m the one with the issue since I have a large science background and nobody really cares and just trying to pay the bills to live another day?
That our Earth is a single grain of sand in his universe and why we are the only rocky ball full of life? Life that is full from microscopic things all the way to so many species on Earth. Or do you think humans are a special type of species due to the understanding we have of the Universe? Are we that special? I’m not sure many other animals understand we live on the planet Earth, which is in a solar system, which is part of many other solar systems, other galaxies, other clusters, etc. The best part of my day is going out at night on a non-cloudy day and just staring at the stars.
I guess what I’m saying is, I have trouble comprehending all of the detail and mundaneness we deal with here on Earth and WHY the rest of the Universe is out there. We have such complicated laws, social structures, social problems, etc and then on the big picture, we are just a fraction of the part of the Universe. We care about climate change and the Politics C-D forum is out of control here, but what about the rest of the Universe?
All this keeps me up at night and was wondering how you guys/gals handle this.
What reason is there to believe that we are the "only rocky ball full of life"?
What reason is there to believe that we are the "only rocky ball full of life"?
I think there's no reason to believe that. It's just a mistake of human hubris and limited intelligence for any human to imagine that Earth is the only rocky ball full of life. Maybe it's because Earth is the only thing that humans have some small modicum of familiarity with. It's hard for some humans to comprehend that life is in everything everywhere in the universe. The universe is life. Everything everywhere is alive. Nothing is static or without purpose.
Nah..that's when imagination kicks in
Lot's of "what if...."
Like what if we humans are seeds from another world ?
Could there be parallel worlds ?
Time is still a mystery to us so there's a lot yet to be answered by science.
We are getting there though. Like how time slows down the further you get from a gravitational field. Very creepy.
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