WELCOME TO STEP 2
From this day forward you need to devote a regular amount of time each day considering how unlikely your own existence is. The amount of time you commit to this depends on your life, but a minimum of ten minutes a day is recommended.
In Step 1, we learned that a good way to make space in our lives is to form routines around existing habits, so pick something you do every day (like walking to work, taking a shower, going to sleep) and dedicate at least 10 minutes a day to learning about research and philosophy.
Why is this important?
If you take the time to learn some things about physics and astronomy, it becomes obvious that a universe capable of sustaining life is mathematically really unlikely, given what we currently know.
As far as we know, we’re the first life form in the observable universe that’s developed a consciousness and sense of self awareness complex enough to question why we’re here, theorize what we exist for, and even figure out ways to test the laws of the universe. Which is really cool, and worth thinking about.
Optimistic Nihilism
This is a good place to start if you’re working on changing your perspective about life. I highly recommend Kurzgesagt’s YouTube channel.
It’s so weird that we’re here
We don’t have the best tools for looking for life yet, but we’ve managed to look at a lot of places in the last century, and the further we look without finding anything, the less statistically likely that any kind of life exists, let alone sentient life.
To keep on top of space science news and the latest in astronomy / astrophysics, I recommend subscribing these two Youtube channels:
SciShow Space explores the universe a few minutes at a time. Hosts Hank Green, Caitlin Hofmeister, and Reid Reimers share everything from just after the beginning of time to the most recent breaking news in space exploration.
New episodes air every Tuesday and Friday.
PBS Space Time explores the outer reaches of space, the craziness of astrophysics, the possibilities of sci-fi, and anything else you can think of beyond Planet Earth with our astrophysicist host: Matthew O’Dowd.
Episodes released every Wednesday afternoon!
Thinking about how unlikely you are to exist at all makes it easier to embrace the belief that there is a purpose to life in general, and to your life in particular, even if you don’t know what it is. I find this helpful because it gives me hope and helps fuel my search for meaning.
But what about religion?
All religious ideologies are rooted in tribalism, and the most successful examples were designed or distorted to make some lives more meaningful than others. This has led to humans doing a lot of stuff that’s against our collective best interest as a species and planet.
Want a quick update on human history? Try this video:
Understanding the evolution of religion and mythology can help you look at human belief systems more objectively. Humans have been telling stories to explain the natural world, form societies, and communicate complex or abstract ideas for a really long time, and it’s a very cool part of being human. But it’s also really important to leave space for stories to continue evolving as we discover new things about our world, ourselves, and the universe.
To learn more about the evolution of world religions, check out the Crash Course World Mythologies playlist.
Sapiens is an amazing book to help you understand human societal evolution, how systems like religion and currency helped humans survive, and what need they serve.
Why is understanding the universe important?
Think about it like this: say we create a software program, and it gains enough self awareness to learn to adapt to pressures like natural selection. It may be sentient by some definitions, but it can’t make decisions or take actions that will prevent the hard drive it’s stored on from being unplugged.
Until the program recognizes that it’s a program on a hard drive, it will not be able to contemplate the nature of the hard drive.
Now imagine you and I are programs. To understand the nature of the hard drive we’re on, we have to work together. We’re like those guys arguing over the nature of an elephant.
We have to combine our perspectives.
To do that, I ask that you learn about things like the Higgs Boson, simulation theory, vacuum decay, and the Drake Equation, and it’s really interesting.
Ready for Step 3?
You’re ready for step 3 as soon as you find yourself wanting to talk about the things you’re learning. Click here to continue…