We make lots of assumptions in life, and we take most pieces of reality for granted.
We hardly dispute that the moon, positioned almost 400’000 kilometers away, is a rock sphere with a diameter of about 3500 kilometers. But it is always easier to presume it as a plate.
Most of us concede that the Universe is boundless. Similarly, many recognize that the earth factors an inconsequential existence within a microscopic galaxy.
“But does that even matter?” People ask.
“It doesn’t,” I shall reply candidly to my fellow people.
Fully embracing those concepts and factoring them into our daily decision making are not mere cumbersome, but impossible.
Besides, it hardly makes us more proficient in completing our jobs. It surely would not save us from a dying relationship or crumbling marriage. After all, regardless of our eagerness to accept the big ideas, human beings still depart after a couple of decades, and we all, willingly or not, come and go alone.
But I would argue that it changes something more fundamental. At least when I stood on the tip of the mountain, and under the uncountably many blue, yellow and red stars and the enormous sky splitting white belt that they constitute, all the worries, questions, anxiousness went away.
To be sure, when I was little, probably around eight, and comprehended only how old and vast the Universe was, all that I felt was a sense of unfathomable fear. I identified that life, objectively speaking, has no meaning, and I, after my negligible short life, would be forgotten almost immediately. Infinity was the only concept that captured both the time and scale of this Universe, and I would say it applied to my fear as well.
But this gradually changed when I accumulated more knowledge and read more about how this world operates.
For sure, this world is full of ugly things. Oligarchies in various hierarchies, domains, and fields command most of the resources, and they are here to stay. We, humans, can be as self-deceiving and self-interested as the words themselves are capable of depicting.
I agree that our life, looking objectively, still holds no meaning. The sun is going to explode eventually, and the Universe would reach its equilibrium when no more energy could accumulate.
But those failures and drawbacks of our blue sphere community and the hostility of this Universe towards human life were no longer daunting when compared with the achievements we made. And the meaning of life never existed unless we intentionally define one.
And in my view, only when we face the infinity and when we truly understand the concept of infinity, do we, in turn, fully appreciate the progress of human beings within the short time frame of our existence.
We are destined to fail. But trying and enjoying the ride is what makes the journey fun.
Perceiving the sunrise and sunset, not as revolving “sky,” but as our massive planet’s rotation around its axis, and perceiving the dimly lit moon, not as a plate hanged on the wall, but as a huge ball that only looks small because of its distance,
and perceiving the overarching night sky, not as a black backdrop, but as all directional unboundedly deep space,
I became laser-focused on what I want to do in life.
To accumulate and create knowledge. To better see and comprehend the immense beauty and profoundness of this unfriendly world.
* Photo taken during my trip to Huang Mountain.