our pointless existence.. is just fine.

A friend of mine — we’ll call him “Patrick” — has been angsty lately due to coming to the realization that our existence is pointless in the universe-level context. Well, duh. We are infinitesimally small and insignificant compared to the physical universe and “the universe” in quotes. Whether we live or die as a species means nothing to the billions of billions of billions of billions of stars, planets, solar systems, galaxies, perhaps even universes that reality consists of. Whether we do anything as individuals means even less..

..and that’s fine.

The relative pointlessness of our existence is a reality. We cannot alter reality. Instead, in order to live fulfilling lives — for the relative fraction of a nanosecond we do exist — we must learn what it is that makes us happy as individuals and strive towards that end. Barring physiological limitations, each person has something which makes them happy and for which they wake up in the morning.

An easy answer for many is family and friends. While that could be considered noble, to place your self-worth entirely in the hands of others is potentially dangerous. Not everything we aspire to must be easily accomplished, so don’t take a shortcut in an attempt to reach enlightenment (sotospeak) at the risk of being torn down (intentionally or not) by the others you rely so heavily upon.

Reality is important, but our perception of reality is upon which we base our existences. To turn the power of perception over to others (cough, religion, cough) we surrender our wills, and our lives to those others. That is not noble. It is stupid, lazy, (at best) misguided.