What’s the point of life? If you’ve ever caught yourself wondering this, we have something in common. Most of us live life in search of an ultimate purpose. We need an end goal to work towards, and an achievement to prove that we did not waste what little time we had on Earth.
Sometimes, this purpose may not be apparent to us.
Did you know?
Our home, the Universe, is vast beyond our comprehension. At 15 billion years old, its history (from the Big Bang till now) was 99.998% over before human beings arrived at all. Frankly put, we were not here for nearly the entirety of the Universe’s existence.
“A Universe in which, every day, suns are born and worlds obliterated, a Universe in which humanity, newly arrived, clings to an obscure clod of matter.” — Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot
Flying us closer to home: Our solar system’s star, the sun, is almost halfway through its lifespan. Some 5 billion years from now, our burning sun will expand into a red giant and completely engulf the Earth. No trace of its existence will be left behind. Whoever comes into being in this galaxy after us will know nothing of a place once named Earth.
Ultimately, nothing matters.
That’s what our place in the Universe seems to be telling us, and what we sometimes get tripped up over. We human beings have evolved into a species that craves making an impact and leaving a legacy behind. Whether our goals are big or small, we want to feel important — we want something to have changed because of us.
With this knowledge that one day, Earth will just be completely wiped out, it can feel like nothing matters. Our existence becomes difficult to rationalize when we focus on the Universe and its physical, biological and chemical origins.
“The meaningless absurdity of life is the only incontestable knowledge accessible to man.” — Leo Tolstoy
After all, we are just a bunch of atoms that came together by accident; a bunch of atoms that will quietly disperse one day with little to show for it.
We must find our purpose within it.
Our relative insignificance within this Universe (let alone possible multiverses) is a fact we have to face. But we don’t have to let this take away our purpose.
Let us hold on: to our curiosity, our desire to seek, our yearning to know everything else that the Big Bang gave birth to. We, human beings, have progressed and developed into who we are today because of our intent to explore. We want to understand our environment and surroundings, to learn and become better; we are slowly getting there.
Some say that the Universe is fine-tuned for human life. I don’t like this idea. To me, thinking that we are the Universe’s ultimate goal diminishes our agency and wider sense of purpose. If the Universe was designed and created for us, everything that we want and need to know ought to be handed down to us.
Let a discovery be a discovery.
Would a discovery still be a discovery if it were meant to be revealed, one way or another? Would exploration still be fulfilling without the element of absolute unknown? Would there still be reason to ask questions? Would we appreciate the answers that we find?
In our tiny existence, life is more purposeless if it is predetermined. The only meaning we will find in life is the one we give it. Expecting a spoon-fed purpose delivered as a revelation may ultimately leave us feeling even emptier than before.
We can (and perhaps should!) look towards religion, spirituality, science, passion, dreams, success — whatever motivator works for us. But we must recognize this as a choice we make for ourselves, a purpose we accord to our own existence.
We are beings that exist against so many odds. We are beings that have developed the ability to reason, to think and to reflect. We have the power to give ourselves meaning.
“If we crave some cosmic purpose, then let us find ourselves a worthy goal.” — Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot
. . .
Author’s whimsy:
I’m writing this before glass windows by the sea. Thunder shakes our world, a low rumble that grows and trembles. It’s a thrilling, dangerous feeling. All of a sudden, I’m transported beyond this room, beyond my country, beyond this Earth that is all I’ve ever known. Does it sound like this within Jupiter’s Great Red Spot? How would it feel to be trapped within a storm centuries old?
I’m lucky, so lucky, to be safe under a roof, gazing out at greens and blues and the storm, thinking about other worlds.
How would it feel to be without the shelter of our Earth?
photo by author — East Coast Park, Singapore
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This post was previously published on Change Becomes You.
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Photo credit: Unsplash
