And this impacts me how exactly?
Would my current existance somehow improve if I was remembered millions of years after my death by the whole galaxy? I don't think so.
Every human being is special and unique. We all have our own DNA, our own perspectives, our own fingerprints. Human life is valuable, down to the individual level and if a human can, by his own merit, make a difference, even if it's something as simple as helping those in need, then he is significant to civilization.
This is getting dangerously close to a religious topic.
Putin khuliyo
And the point of this post is?.....
None of this is news to me. Most people would never guess it but I'm an existential nihilist as well, though I can't follow any philosophy like it's some ultimate truth. For me there's still something to be said about morality and relieving suffering, but at the end of the day, yeah I agree with you. I recognize some clear areas in my life where my behavior contradicts my philosophy, but life isn't so simple that it can be defined by a single viewpoint.
I do find it amusing watching people scramble to validate their lives when something like this is posted though.
Last edited by Letmesleep; 2013-01-14 at 01:24 PM.
Thoes who don't think one small being can make a difference clearly never had a mosquito in theire bedroom.
While it's obviously true that we are all insignificant on universal scales, this observation is only new and exciting if you're 12-14 and/or just started learning these things.
I know ...
so the stars are huge and the universe is infinite. So what? as far as we know, OUR planet is the only planet to host life. We are the MOST significant thing in existence, for the simple fact that we can say that.
I think, therefore i am.
The infinite universe, no matter how big it is, doesnt get to say a single thing. it exists because it does. because matter accumulated into planets and stars. because positive charged protons were attracted to negatively charged electrons, and neutrons appeared in between, because the laws of nature and existence dictated so. i bet if the universe could speak, it'd remark on how pointless it is for the fact that all it does is follow natural law and doesn't think for itself; it'd be jealous of us humans for being able to make decisions, like whether we move forwards or backwards, or not at all. simple things we take for granted. our significance, free choice.
WE are the most significant thing in existence. planets dont decide anything, we arent insignificant because we're smaller than them. They dont have a mind, they cant say we're small.
In the 'grand scheme of things' we are very young, though we may have been created recently, or evolved intelligence only in the last few thousand years or so or something else, we have the potential to do so much. galaxies dont build space shuttles, universes dont learn logic, we do. us insignificant humans have learnt about the building blocks of existence, we can create immense energy from nuclear power, enough to destroy a planet, and we are still in our infancy.
when we discover new sources of energy, once we learn to teraform other planets, once we create a way to travel incredible distances in small amounts of time, we will populate the universe. us 'insignificant' humans have the potential to do that!
so am i 'insignificant'? no. i am significant. my ability to even say that is proof that i am. sure i may not change some peoples mind about that, but i'm certain whatever i say will affect someone. someone significant like me. like anyone. dont underestimate yourself. we are the only significant thing.
Not to my family and friends, but cosmically speaking, yes. Of course we are.
Relative importance vs absolute importance. One of them is important, and one of them is absolutely useless if you're not in a philosophy class.
Since I'm self centered I'm significant for myself and that's good enough for me.
Atoms are liars, they make up everything!
That depends. If life only exist on planet earth, or if intelligent life only exist on planet earth. Then the human race holds extreme significance to the universe. Thus it is possible, based on your actions to make your life significant.
But if intelligent life is abundant, and there are aliens left and right cruising the universe in star ships then we hold little significance.
So what? I'm here and I'm alive and all that matters is what I feel and think for this limited existence I have. So I don't care that the universe is infinite or at least so huge I couldn't even see 0.000001% of it in my lifetime, I don't care. Because all that matters is how I'm living here and now.
I think the people saying stuff like YOLO are a bit stupid, because they do dumb things because you only live once as they say, so they disregard a lot of stuff, but there's one thing that they are right... all that matters is your perception of life. My perception of life. And in this one life I am living my existance is not insignificant. Because I will impact the lives of others, and they will impact the lives of others and so on. I'm like a little cog in an army of cogs. And one day humanity will go to outer space, and even if my contribution was small to none, it was there, even if my contribution was that I existed and I did something once. And once humanity goes to outer space or we encounter other civilizations, we will impact those, and so on.
And you might say, sure, but nobody will remember you in 1000 years for example. And you might be right, unless I do something exceptional I won't be remembered in 1000 years. And even then I probably won't be remembered in 1 million years. So what? All that matters is now and now I am making an impact. Only future will tell if it's a good or not.
Everyone is important in their own way, everyone is unique. Like a gigantic machine, you'd say the big pieces are most important... yet if a small wire breaks, the whole machine stops. If a little cog rusts, the machine stops. So to are you! So too is life!
Somebody just got dumped, hard.