If our lives are to have any meaning

Too good not to share

I’ve posted various mixes of Sagan’s meditation “You Are Here” from his book Pale Blue Dot.  Each one adds something to the unique perspective of our world against the cosmic vastness.  This moving and beautiful remix uses scenes from movies - the storytellers of our culture - as illustrations for Sagan’s words, and a haunting instrumental from Mogwai as its emotional frame. 

Hat tip to Iconoclasts Anonymous, who asks “Who inspires you?”

Religions insist that only by believing in a transcendent being can our lives have any meaning, any purpose.  But it is in the nature of our species to see sentience everywhere; spirits in the clouds, purpose in random events, the face of Mary in a cheese sandwich. For those not able to believe - if the universe suggests to us the existence of no such benevolent overseer - then any meaning derived from that belief is also a phantom.  It is not clear to me how any comfort can be derived from a known illusion, a quirk of our neurological evolution. 

Nor why it is necessary.  The reality in which we find ourselves is a spatial and temporal enormity, in which we are imperceptible points.  Our lifespans are nine places to the right of the decimal point against the age of the universe so far.  The universe will not give meaning to us; rather we must, in whatever small way we we can, give meaning to the universe.  Just this; despite our temporality, we did not give in to despair or nihilism.  We found our own joy, and made room for the joy of others while we were alive.  For such future generations as there might be, we left behind the best world we could - that is our responsibility and our meaning, if we have the courage to face it.

One might ask; at the other end of many more billions of years, when the cosmos is growing cold, what would it matter?  Who would know?  As if we somehow deserved eternity by virtue of having thought up the word.

We will know.  And if no one else knows, that will have to be enough.

Posted by George on 08/04/08 at 06:39 PM
observations •

  1. To me, meaning (and sometimes purpose) are derived from observation and understandings of a vast, wonderfully complex universe that is at once frightening and nurturing.

    That said, I do “believe” there is a collective consciousness, though I won’t insist on that, and lord know I wouldn’t understand its nature.  But it such a “thing” exists, for damn sure it’s the coolest aspect of the universe.

    Posted by WeeDram  on  08/05/08  at  06:28 PM

  2. Thanks for sharing that.

    My view is that reality is enough, we denigrate reality by ruling it less important than illusion. No matter what set of “beliefs” one has, there either is, or isn’t, milk in the refrigerator.

    Posted by gerry rosser  on  08/06/08  at  06:34 AM

  3. An interesting question is “What is real?”

    Posted by WeeDram  on  08/07/08  at  06:28 AM

  4. I have no problem ascribing the perceivable and measurable universe as base-line reality.  There are enough religious people who say; “Quantum mechanics is counterintuitive, therefore (our) God exists!”  But quantum mechanics has been measured, and it’s the basis of every transistor, every CD player.  When someone gets me some repeatable measurements for the mythology of Abrahamic religion, I’ll start listening to the Templeton Institute crowd.

    Posted by George  on  08/07/08  at  07:24 AM

  5. Just as advances in knowledge and instrumentation have allowed humans to measure things previously unmeasurable (leading to additional discoveries and revision/expansion of “reality”), it is conceivable to me that there is reality which is not yet measurable simply because the tools to do so are not yet known.

    Posted by WeeDram  on  08/07/08  at  06:45 PM

  6. Sure, it’s conceivable to me too.  Let me know when those things become reliably detectable, let alone measurable.  Meanwhile I have my hands full with the reality I can detect.

    Posted by George  on  08/07/08  at  07:32 PM

  7. Now, that’s the meaning of life.  Wonderful!

    Posted by Dana Hunter  on  08/08/08  at  03:14 AM

  8. wink  And I assume you’re not holding your breath; I’m not either.  But let me tll you about the time ... oh, never mind.

    Posted by WeeDram  on  08/08/08  at  06:56 AM

  9. I think far too many religious people confuse atheism with nihilism. That’s not to say that many do. But if any of them do, it’s too much.

    I find it encouraging that even without sharing my views of the divine, there are countless people in the world who can all agree with me that the universe is an immense, complex, and beautiful thing (with or without any transcendant being). If we’re going to share one thing across boundaries of religion versus not-religion, I would want it to be that.

    Posted by Cobalt  on  08/10/08  at  11:48 AM

  10. Thanks for your words.

    I believe I understand your point of view well.  I also believe that one can, sometimes usefully, hold more than one point of view at the same time.  Here’s another point of view.

    Whether I identify with my body at any given point in time, is my choice.  Likewise for my mind, etc.  Some people argue that some evidence exists that supports the idea of there being a physical universe, which includes physical bodies, like mine.  If this is assumed, then perhaps my physical body will die.  And perhaps the alleged physical universe will die.

    Moreover, if you identify with the human race, then while you so identify, you ARE the human race (as a set of physical bodies).  Therefore, only if the human race dies, will you die.

    Thanks for listening, e.b.

    Posted by e.b.  on  02/01/10  at  04:30 PM

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