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-- science saved my soul
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Posted by Lira on Dec-19-2010 21:51:

quote:
Originally posted by Znack
I was actually looking forward to your answer. I was under the impression that perhaps something had eluded me.

Could you elaborate a little?

Sorry, I was off to bed when I posted that.

Saying our brain is the most complex thing we know in the universe is like saying your girlfriend is the hottest girl you've ever met if you've never left the small village you live in: it may well be true and your village is blessed with the contemporary human Aphrodite. However, what are the odds? Keep in mind that if there are 690 people in your village, you guys are just 0.00001% of the world population. Should you be right, that'd be a really lucky guess.

Likewise, the emotional appeal of the pale blue dot is that we're insignificant in the greater scheme of things, both literally and epistemologically (it's not like our knowledge of the natural world is anywhere close to perfection). In perspective, even the most grandiose plan devised by us is too insignificant a thing to worry about. Pursuits of fame and glory aren't any more profound than ants trying to be the coolest arthropod of the colony. And, yet, this puny thing we call life is the deepest experience we'll ever have. And it's awesome in its own right.

It's quite uplifting and liberating if you think about it.

Posted by Znack on Dec-20-2010 00:50:

quote:
Originally posted by Lira

Sorry, I was off to bed when I posted that.

No problem. Glad you cared to elaborate

quote:
Originally posted by Lira

Saying our brain is the most complex thing we know in the universe is like saying your girlfriend is the hottest girl you've ever met if you've never left the small village you live in

It doesn't matter about the other villages, as we are supposed to be humbled by what we have discovered in the universe, not what we might discover in the future.

quote:
Originally posted by Lira

In perspective, even the most grandiose plan devised by us is too insignificant a thing to worry about.

I disagree. I think what we do could be very significant, even on a cosmic scale. In the distance future we could be colonising galaxies, and in an unimaginably distant future our descendants could be black hole energy miners.

quote:
Originally posted by Lira

And, yet, this puny thing we call life is the deepest experience we'll ever have.

Who says life is puny?

Posted by Lira on Dec-20-2010 05:35:

quote:
Originally posted by Znack
It doesn't matter about the other villages, as we are supposed to be humbled by what we have discovered in the universe, not what we might discover in the future.

And we already are

quote:
Originally posted by Znack
I disagree. I think what we do could be very significant, even on a cosmic scale. In the distance future we could be colonising galaxies, and in an unimaginably distant future our descendants could be black hole energy miners.

2, 10, 20 galaxies out of -- maybe what? -- 200 billion galaxies? Not exactly significant, though it's still quite an achievement to be celebrated if it ever happens.

quote:
Originally posted by Znack
Who says life is puny?

Well, in a universe that is billions of years old, we won't last much more than a century; in a (not exactly big) planet that has a mass of 5.9736�10²⁴ kilograms, we'd be morbidly obese if we weighed 0.000000...001% of all that; and, being rather fragile, life's quite easy to be taken down.

So, yeah, it's weak, ephemeral, and rather small. I'd say it's puny all right, albeit awesome and deserving of respect.

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