Isn't it just mind-boggling?

[archangelabove]

The mere fact that we are such ridiculously small pieces of the puzzle that is the universe, is simple mind-blowing. Upon birth, a human being perceives the universe as a result of their existence. The young do not understand the concept of a "universe that doesn't revolve around them". Yet, we are so inconsequential to the universe. We are absolutely meaningless; as far as we know.

To consider all there is out there.. that we are on a tiny spec of a blue planet, perfectly placed in the perfect solar system, and we know very little about what is around us. We barely know our own galaxy, let alone the HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS that we believe exist! Wrap your mind around this for a second. We exist in a tiny form, for a massively small amount of time (to the universe), and then, as far as we know, we are gone.

I'm not sure how this forum feels about bringing up religion, so I will tread lightly. I have no real religion. I follow no special practice, and have no particular beliefs. But the more I study space, and see it's beauty, the more I am convinced that we are part of something here. I used to believe it was just mankind's inability to explain death that created a need for religion, but now I just see so much out there. There MUST be something else to what we know.

Why is our existence so complex, if it is a meaningless fraction of time to the universe? Why would we have such complex feelings and thoughts (such as the one I am having now) if it is all for nil? It is such a strange thing to ponder.

But really, just think about it. YOU ARE ALIVE. A living, conscious being. How did you happen? How did we become the definition of being alive? What is being alive though? Is this all there is?

The more time you spend thinking about what we are, and what we are doing here, the clearer it becomes that we know next to nothing about what is out there. Whether it is another species out there, or a God, they are out there. Right now.. perhaps.. there is a being in a distant galaxy (or perhaps a system in our own?) who is pondering the same thing. In fact, there are people all around our own world who ponder the same thing, everyday..

And yet we can not overcome our own miniscule differences in our tiny existence, so we do whatever we can to make the time we have on Earth, tough. We kill each other and live in a constant state of fear.. which I don't understand. I live in a constant state of curiousity, wondering and pure exhiliration at considering what might be out there. I exist in a state of pure amazement..

Is it not mind boggling? As human beings, we are not naturally made to cope with such an existence, and it is incredible that we have come as far as we have anyway.

I can only say, that everyday must be a day you enjoy. It is unclear what exists after we die, so we must make sure our lives that we have on Earth, are lived out to the fullest of their potential.

I'm not sure where I was going with this thread, but I just thought I woulod release some of my thoughts out there. The older I get, the more I agree with Einstein in his belief that there must be something out there. The universe is so incredible, so beautiful, that it would be a shame if it were only coincidence.

[HenrikOlsen]

I'm not sure how this forum feels about bringing up religion, so I will tread lightly.

It's stated rather clearly in the rules for posting on the board, it is not the version you see while signing up but it is the version enforced.

[archangelabove]

It's stated rather clearly in the rules for posting on the board, it is not the version you see while signing up but it is the version enforced.

Well hopefully I treaded lightly enough. This isn't a thread to discuss religion.. it's a thread for people to share their thoughts on how they feel about the universe. About their existence.

I'm always curious to see how others view things.

[KaiYeves]

I agree with what you said. Sometimes I make time to sit back and just enjoy existing.

[Neverfly]

I don't agree with "perfectly placed."

Sure, it might seem perfect to US, we evolved here...

I have a lot I can say about the OP- non religious But I will wait until my thoughts are more clear...

[archangelabove]

I don't agree with "perfectly placed."

Sure, it might seem perfect to US, we evolved here...

I have a lot I can say about the OP- non religious But I will wait until my thoughts are more clear...

Nothing wrong with that Thats a good thing to do

[Paul Leeks]

how can life be an accident!!

I gave up on coincidences a long time ago...

PL

[Click Ticker]

Life can easily be an accident. We only know of one instance among billions of stars among billions of galaxies.

How can it be an accident when the poor elderly couple wins the lottery? Must be their own good karma coming around. After all, they've never hurt anyone - it's just their turn.

Well what about this guy?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...21486416_x.htm

or this one?

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/jens...HVURT3U8V57TIQ

or this one...

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/20...928636-ap.html

[Cougar]

The mere fact that we are such ridiculously small pieces of the puzzle that is the universe, is simple mind-blowing.

Can't argue with that.

Yet, we are so inconsequential to the universe. We are absolutely meaningless; as far as we know.

Well, I think relativity is applicable here as well. To human observers, much is meaningful.

To consider all there is out there.. that we are on a tiny spec of a blue planet, perfectly placed in the perfect solar system....

As Neverfly mentioned, "perfect" is not the most accurate word. We evolved here, so of course we're going to be well adapted. It's not perfect, but we make do.

...and we know very little about what is around us. We barely know our own galaxy, let alone the HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS that we believe exist!

Are you saying the glass is half empty? Sure, there's much we don't know, but it's amazing how much we have figured out.

Wrap your mind around this for a second. We exist in a tiny form, for a massively small amount of time (to the universe), and then, as far as we know, we are gone.

But 70-80 years seems like a pretty long time to us.

But the more I study space, and see it's beauty, the more I am convinced that we are part of something here.

Yeah, we're part of this planet. We're a small part of the universe, but a part nonetheless.

I used to believe it was just mankind's inability to explain death that created a need for religion, but now I just see so much out there. There MUST be something else to what we know.

I'm not sure what you're intending to mean here....

Why is our existence so complex, if it is a meaningless fraction of time to the universe? Why would we have such complex feelings and thoughts (such as the one I am having now) if it is all for nil? It is such a strange thing to ponder.

There are many human lives that are far from nil.

But really, just think about it. YOU ARE ALIVE. A living, conscious being. How did you happen? How did we become the definition of being alive? What is being alive though?

A certain threshold of molecular diversity can lead to autocatalysis... mix in a billion years and you got something going on. See At Home in the Universe, Stuart Kauffman.

Is this all there is?

This what? Being part of the universe for a time isn't enough for you?

The more time you spend thinking about what we are, and what we are doing here, the clearer it becomes that we know next to nothing about what is out there.

On the other hand, the more you study about what contemporary science has figured out about all the various fields of study, well, I'm impressed.

Right now.. perhaps.. there is a being in a distant galaxy (or perhaps a system in our own?) who is pondering the same thing. In fact, there are people all around our own world who ponder the same thing, everyday..

Sure.

And yet we can not overcome our own miniscule differences... We kill each other...

I've never killed anybody.

As human beings, we are not naturally made to cope with such an existence, and it is incredible that we have come as far as we have anyway.

I think we're coping pretty well.

I can only say, that everyday must be a day you enjoy. It is unclear what exists after we die, so we must make sure our lives that we have on Earth, are lived out to the fullest of their potential.

Agreed.

[Argos]

Perfect? I see chaos all around. The universe is like a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

[V_Zhd]

Don't try too hard to make sense of reality, it would probably make you crazy.

[Cougar]

Ten or twenty billion years ago, something happened -- the Big Bang, the event that began our universe. Why it happened is the greatest mystery we know. That it happened is reasonably clear. - Carl Sagan

"The laws of nature themselves, like the biological species, may not be eternal categories, but rather the creations of natural processes occurring in time. There will be reasons why the laws of physics are what they are, but these reasons may be partly historical and contingent, as in the case of biology." -- Lee Smolin

"Without [natural selection], we reason, there would be nothing but incoherent disorder. I shall argue... that this idea is wrong. For, as we shall see, the emerging sciences of complexity begin to suggest that the order is not all accidental, that vast veins of spontaneous order lie at hand. Laws of complexity spontaneously generate much of the order of the natural world. It is only then that selection comes into play, further molding and refining. Such veins... have not been entirely unknown, yet they are just beginning to emerge as powerful new clues to the origins and evolution of life.... if this is true, life is vastly more probable that we have supposed. Not only are we at home in the universe, but we are far more likely to share it with as yet unknown companions."" -- Stuart Kauffman

"In the Permian extinction, 245 million years ago, 96 percent of all species disappeared." -- Stuart Kauffman

"On many fronts, life evolves toward a regime that is poised between order and chaos. -- Stuart Kauffman

"Recently at a New York cocktail party, a young physicist was asked how he made his living and he replied that he was by specialty a cosmologist. While it might be debated whether cosmology constitutes a "living," his host remained undeterred and immediately inquired if it would be possible to make an appointment for a manicure and a haircut." -- Tony Rothman

[Doodler]

how can life be an accident!!

Ask any teen in her second trimester that one, dude.

[BlueSky]

Is it not mind boggling? As human beings, we are not naturally made to cope with such an existence, and it is incredible that we have come as far as we have anyway.

Wisdom is the primary characteristic of humans according to Linnaeus and so he named our species sapiens from the Latin for wisdom - sapientia. He considered humans uniquely separate from the rest of the animal kingdom. Hopefully, our innate ability to act based on internal judgement linked to a store of knowledge based on experience will help us cope. Yeah, there's alot of unfilled space out there. And we've been as far as the moon!

The older I get, the more I agree with Einstein in his belief that there must be something out there. The universe is so incredible, so beautiful, that it would be a shame if it were only coincidence.

I really like the following Einstein quote myself:

Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible law and connections, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion.

[mike alexander]

It all evens out: life may be an accident, but death is a certainty.

[HenrikOlsen]

But at least it's only once, unlike taxes.

[Elenwen]

I think my sig quote fits in well with your post.

"To live is the rarest thing in the world, most people merely exist."- Oscar Wilde.

It seems that although there are so many of 'us' we're so involved with all the stresses and struggles that some of us just follow mundane routines day after day. It's a sad thing when people have dreams they don't live. That's the one great thing about being a child. As a child nothing is impossible so you make all these dreams for yourself and you do them (to the best of your imagination).

[Cougar]

It seems that although there are so many of 'us' we're so involved with all the stresses and struggles that some of us just follow mundane routines day after day....

OK, that's it. I'm going to the ballgame tonight.

[Neverfly]

OK, that's it. I'm going to the ballgame tonight.

I did that a while back.

I got bored

[Cougar]

I did that a while back... I got bored

OK, that's it. I'm going to the Bayou tonight.

[Whirlpool]

The mere fact that we are such ridiculously small pieces of the puzzle that is the universe, is simple mind-blowing. Upon birth, a human being perceives the universe as a result of their existence. The young do not understand the concept of a "universe that doesn't revolve around them". Yet, we are so inconsequential to the universe. We are absolutely meaningless; as far as we know.

We are not a ridiculous and meaningless human beings in this planet. If living is meaningless why do we need to survive to stay alive?
Life is full of challenges, mysteries that make every single day meaningful.

[Neverfly]

OK, that's it. I'm going to the Bayou tonight.

Eating...
Now THAT is something I can do without getting bored with it

The mere fact that we are such ridiculously small pieces of the puzzle that is the universe, is simple mind-blowing. Upon birth, a human being perceives the universe as a result of their existence. The young do not understand the concept of a "universe that doesn't revolve around them". Yet, we are so inconsequential to the universe. We are absolutely meaningless; as far as we know.

True, but as Whirlpool just mentioned- that doesn't mean it's Meaningless to US.

There MUST be something else to what we know.

Why?
Just because you're awestruck?
I do not follow your reasoning.

Why is our existence so complex, if it is a meaningless fraction of time to the universe?

Because our existence is the product of a billion years of evolution?
I might ask how we COULDN'T be complex!

Why would we have such complex feelings and thoughts (such as the one I am having now) if it is all for nil? It is such a strange thing to ponder.

Why is a black hole so complex if it's for nil?
It is simply following its properties to which it is bound.

But really, just think about it. YOU ARE ALIVE. A living, conscious being. How did you happen? How did we become the definition of being alive? What is being alive though? Is this all there is?

In my humble opinion?
Yep. This is it.

The more time you spend thinking about what we are, and what we are doing here, the clearer it becomes that we know next to nothing about what is out there. Whether it is another species out there, or a God, they are out there. Right now.. perhaps.. there is a being in a distant galaxy (or perhaps a system in our own?) who is pondering the same thing. In fact, there are people all around our own world who ponder the same thing, everyday...

Yes, true...

And perhaps in China or maybe some far distant world, some person or creature's stomach is rumbling as mine is- craving sustenance...

"ogre.. HUNGRY!"

And yet we can not overcome our own miniscule differences in our tiny existence, so we do whatever we can to make the time we have on Earth, tough. We kill each other and live in a constant state of fear.. which I don't understand. I live in a constant state of curiousity, wondering and pure exhiliration at considering what might be out there. I exist in a state of pure amazement..

Eh... We all kinda have our moments when we are scared and moments when we are curious or moments when we are amazed...
Call me crazy for it... But if my insignificant and minuscule neighbor hurls a flaming sack of poo on my tiny and insignificant meaningless doorstep, I will have a moment of not so insignificant nor minuscule behavior.

It ain't easy bein' a mammal of predatory stock...

Is it not mind boggling? As human beings, we are not naturally made to cope with such an existence, and it is incredible that we have come as far as we have anyway.

Actually, I was thinking that we took too long to get here!

I can only say, that everyday must be a day you enjoy. It is unclear what exists after we die, so we must make sure our lives that we have on Earth, are lived out to the fullest of their potential.

Within reason of course...

I'm not sure where I was going with this thread, but I just thought I woulod release some of my thoughts out there. The older I get, the more I agree with Einstein in his belief that there must be something out there. The universe is so incredible, so beautiful, that it would be a shame if it were only coincidence.

Is it only because it would be a shame that "something" must be out there?
Well... Depending on how you define "Something..."
I think there are a LOT of somethings out there.

That's why we buy telescopes.

[novaderrik]

if we are insignificant, then explain why we are able to ponder our own insignificance?

[mike alexander]

Yes, it's mind-boggling. Enjoy, but try not to let it get to you.

Clay lies still, but blood's a rover,
Breath's a ware that will not keep.
Up lads, when the journey's over
There'll be time enough to sleep.

[Whirlpool]

Yeah .. mysterious and mind-boggling spice-up our Life!