Week 9: On Insignificance

Am I alone in feeling that the more humans advance technologically as a society, the more obvious it is how insignificant and unimportant we are as a whole? The way the “Power of Ten” video slowly zooms out from a small picnic in the park to thousand of light years away was very traumatizing for me in that it showed how tiny I am in this universe (Powers of Ten). "It is a known fact that one day; humanity will cease to exist seeing that 99.99% of all species that have ever existed on Earth are extinct" (Atwood). In the grand scheme of things, the universe would not even be slightly affected if Earth just disappeared tomorrow (Atwood), and personally I struggle with this depressing idea everyday.

Carl Sagan’s "Pale Blue Dot" video really makes my skin crawl and fills me with anxiety because it brings into perspective how small humanity really is and how so many people take for granted how utterly against the odds it is that we has humans even have a position in the universe (Sagan). But, it is such sad ideas like that that have spurred the creation of such beautiful works of art and delve deep into the human spirit and make us ask “who are we and what are we here to do”?

I remember clear as day the moment I realized I was insignificant. It was a truly stunning day, but a sad one. I began to warp my mind around how many people have come and gone in my life and I wanted to try desperately to find some “mindless moral to the story in my day [but] at the end of the day, life is just a smattering of events shoved together with no real rhyme or reason. Not every single thing is connected” (Between the Broken Ends). 

The people we are today is nothing more than a collection of memories and experiences balled up into a present day representation of attitudes, morals, and social standards. I try my hardest to understand the beauty that what I have come to experience in the universe will never be repeated, never be fully understandable by another individual, and can never be taken away from me. Though I may seem insignificant, tiny, and outright unimportant, I am part of a dynamic system and my actions, though small, could produce very large variations in the long-term behavior of this system (Philosophy Forums).

What is so beautiful about this way of looking at the insignificance of humanity as a whole is that each individual, their life, and experiences can be viewed as a live work of art that has changed and progressed over time. The people we touch, the places we work, and the lives we live as individuals may be insignificant to the universe, but they are significant to those of us that are breathing, living, and existing right now and that is art in itself. “Whatever you do in life will be insignificant. But it’s very important that you do it, because nobody else will” (Our Last Night).  

References

Atwood, Ben. The Beauty of Insignificance”. Thought Catalog. 16 May 2012. Web. 1 Dec 2013.

Between the Broken Ends. 20 July. Web. 1 Dec 2013.

FreeScienceLectures. Planet Earth is Tiny, Tiny Object in Space. 3 May 2007. Online video clip. YouTube. 1 Dec 2013.

Kenyon, Dave. Insight Incites Change. 2011. Web. 1 Dec 2013.    

Our Last Night. Dark Storms. 2013. Web. 1 Dec 2013.

Philosophy Forums. Ghandi quote has got e stranded. Opinions? 31 Jan 2010. Web. 1 Dec 2013.

Powers of Ten. Unit 9 View. Online video clip. YouTube. 1 Dec 2013.

Sagan, Carl. Pale Blue Dot. Unit 9 Resources. Online video clip. YouTube. 1 Dec 2013.

TalonRisto. Human Insignificance – entry. 2010. Web. 1 Dec 2013.