the nomad diary

534 human beings were born the two minutes it took you to brush your teeth this morning.  534 new individuals, 534 new journeys.

The world population has doubled since 1965, tripled since 1945, and quadrupled since 1910.  “…there are more people alive now than have died in all of human history. In other words, if everyone wanted to play Hamlet at once, they couldn’t, because there aren’t enough skulls!”(from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by J.S. Foer)

The good/bad news, depending on how you wish to look at it, is that at this instant you currently account for .00000000014 % of individuals on this planet, and you are getting less significant by the moment.

Lets also take into account the recent findings that suggest the existence of 100 billion “earth-like” planets in our Milky Way galaxy.  The debate rages on, though it seems ridiculously unlikely to me that not a single one of these planets is home to another variation of intelligent life.  Is it possible that we are alone in this vast sea of life-bearing potential?  I think not, but it remains to be seen.  Regardless, in the unlikely event that we do have this galaxy all to our lonely selves, lets not forget that the good old Milky Way, unfathomably large as it is, is only one of billions like it in the universe.  It seems downright silly to assume that such incomprehensible vastness contains nothing but a scattering of lifeless matter.

“The universe is a pretty big place. It’s bigger than anything anyone has ever dreamed of before. So if it’s just us… seems like an awful waste of space. Right?”- Jodie Foster, Contact

Anyway, the point is, no matter how you cut it, your haunting suspicions were correct.  You are, globally, galactically, and universally speaking, completely insignificant.

And to beat the dead horse just once more, let’s not forget that the 77.9 years the average American spends on earth is but the most minute slice of an infinitely large temporal pie.  Our lives are but a single moment suspended between billions of years on either end.  ”Short” doesn’t even begin to explain the temporary nature of our existence.

When we take the time to consider the astounding multi-dimensional vastness of time and space, one cannot help but feel rather small.  Oddly enough however, I do not feel disheartened by my blatant irrelevance.

I’m not really sure what purpose, if any, we human beings are serving here on earth, but I’m happy to be here just the same.

I may never know the answers to the hows, whys, and whens, and that’s okay.  Questions of faith and cosmology aside, being a human being is a pretty incredible experience.

Though my life story is but a single entry in the book of infinity, it’s all I’ve got, and I am indescribably thankful for the opportunity to write it.  I only hope that I am successful in my attempt to weave a tale worth reading.

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