Are we so small in the universe?

[phee]

I have read a bunch of this thread....

And I think it is pretty cool the way the discussion is going... good debate....

One thing that has not been mentioned is how small (in the grand scheme of things) that humans really are.... look at the picture that kelly put up in this thread to see what I mean...

Religion? Politics? Government? I Once heard a figure that if the entire Billions of years that the universe has been around were equated with one year.... the earth would have been around about 4-5 minutes of that year and life on earth for about 7-8 seconds of that year, and humans only a few hundredths of a second of that year... It makes things seem so small to me.... the fact that we kill each other over who's imaginary friend is better (religion) or which peace of dirt is according to a book "ours".... seems so... well small.

human life is so very finite... concepts like religion/gods/economics are so finite...

It makes me want to simply survive in comfort....

And along with the whole "Star Trek" idea.... Spock: "The Universe will unfold as it must"

[Steven]

yes.

we are.

so small.

its just us out there......

I actually do beleive this.

better make it count while you can.

[Rayne]

So small. So, very, very tiny.

[phee]

So small. So, very, very tiny.

:laughing

[Steven]

:laughing

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

glad he can laugh at that one.

shit, i'm still in therapy over mine......

[phee]

glad he can laugh at that one.

shit, i'm still in therapy over mine......

She was quoting "Invader Zim"

[kellygrrrrrl]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0RMvOpXVsw

my favorite Simpsons intro EVER.....

perfect for this thread!

WATCH IT!

[torn asunder]

yes.

we are.

so small.

its just us out there......

I actually do beleive this.

better make it count while you can.

you really believe that, in the vastness of the universe, which for all practical purposes to our limited minds is infinite, that we're the only sentient, self-conscious life in all of it, just because we've never seen anyone/thing else? if you believe in god (which i know you do) how can you think he/she/it is so small and limited in thinking that this little rock is the only place that he/she/it would create life!? that actually makes me sad... =(

[sinmantyx]

I recently came into possession of this. It was forwarded to me by an Astronomy Club member. It is very cool.

[sinmantyx]

you really believe that, in the vastness of the universe, which for all practical purposes to our limited minds is infinite, that we're the only sentient, self-conscious life in all of it, just because we've never seen anyone/thing else? if you believe in god (which i know you do) how can you think he/she/it is so small and limited in thinking that this little rock is the only place that he/she/it would create life!? that actually makes me sad...  =(

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As Carl Sagan would say, "It would be an awful waste of space."

[phee]

you really believe that, in the vastness of the universe, which for all practical purposes to our limited minds is infinite, that we're the only sentient, self-conscious life in all of it, just because we've never seen anyone/thing else? if you believe in god (which i know you do) how can you think he/she/it is so small and limited in thinking that this little rock is the only place that he/she/it would create life!? that actually makes me sad...  =(

I do believe that life is few and far between... but it is so statistcally unlikely that we are the only life in the universe it is virtually impossible that we are...

However with the laws of physics (in the limited way that we understand them) it is very unlikely that we will ever be able to contact them....

It just seems so pointless to try to apply deeper meaning....

I think that given the way that we are all so insugnificant... we are better off trying to determine our own meaning in a personal sense.... instead of dying for the imaginary friend of our parents choice

[kellygrrrrrl]

I believe in the best of both worlds....

I do believe there was purpose.....but it failed when she ate that damn apple.

I also believe there is other intelligent life out there unexplained....as purposed by the maker.

But I don't think it is relevant to us.

[phee]

I believe in the best of both worlds....

I do believe there was purpose.....but it failed when she ate that damn apple.

I also believe there is other intelligent life out there unexplained....as purposed by the maker.

But I don't think it is relevant to us.

Are you a fundamentalist Kelly? IE, that literally all of the sins of the universe can be blamed on one female?

[kellygrrrrrl]

no.....

[Msterbeau]

Maybe we are... maybe not. For me it doesn't matter. I look around me, and the people I see and the place I live is what matters. When I look up on a cloudless night, out in the country where you can see the stars clearly, I'm awestruck. But what matters is right here.

[phee]

Maybe we are... maybe not.  For me it doesn't matter.  I look around me, and the people I see and the place I live is what matters.  When I look up on a cloudless night, out in the country where you can see the stars clearly,  I'm awestruck.  But what matters is right here.

Yes...that works

[HipsterDufus]

I do believe that life is few and far between... but it is so statistcally unlikely that we are the only life in the universe it is virtually impossible that we are...

However with the laws of physics (in the limited way that we understand them) it is very unlikely that we will ever be able to contact them....

It just seems so pointless to try to apply deeper meaning....

I think that given the way that we are all so insugnificant... we are better off trying to determine our own meaning in a personal sense.... instead of dying for the imaginary friend of our parents choice

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree completely.

The hard part is trying to find that deeper meaning for our own lives... I don't really know even where to start at the moment. I've developed such a critical mindset that I can pretty much discredit any system of belief as soon as its brought up. Then again, they say belief can come from personal experience. Maybe I just haven't experienced anything to make me believe in one particular path.

[kellygrrrrrl]

to put it short and sweet....

Satan/devil/etc... as we know it...was an angel at the time of the universe beginning.

He was at the right hand of god.

God made Satans angel...forgot his name...in charge of the earth as A&E lived on it.

One day, the angel turned on God and said I want to have as much power as you.

I should be in charge.

Afterall, God made him as powerful as such.

God was like no.

Angel turned on God.

Became vengeful.

Wanted man to turn on god.

Thus created SIN....introduced sin to man.

Disobedience.

GOD cast them out of eden.....

Rival btwn God & Satan

Satan says I'll bet you all of man will turn on you.

(Which they have)

except for a small few.

It's been a battle ever since....

[phee]

to put it short and sweet....

Satan/devil/etc... as we know it...was an angel at the time of the universe beginning.

He was at the right hand of god.

God made Satans angel...forgot his name...in charge of the earth as A&E lived on it.

One day, the angel turned on God and said I want to have as much power as you.

I should be in charge.

Afterall, God made him as powerful as such.

God was like no.

Angel turned on God.

Became vengeful.

Wanted man to turn on god.

Thus created SIN....introduced sin to man.

Disobedience.

GOD cast them out of eden.....

Rival btwn God & Satan

Satan says I'll bet you all of man will turn on you.

(Which they have)

except for a small few.

It's been a battle ever since....

Was hevan supposed to be a paradise?

[kellygrrrrrl]

real life was suppose to be

[BrassFusion]

I believe in the best of both worlds....

I do believe there was purpose.....but it failed when she ate that damn apple.

I also believe there is other intelligent life out there unexplained....as purposed by the maker.

But I don't think it is relevant to us.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If Eve brought sin to the world, she also brought conflict. As in, a plotline.

How boring would life be without conflict, and what purpose could we have if there were no evil to counteract with good?

And Phee! We're not insignificant just because we're small! Think of all the people who are significant to you. Each of them is a fraction of your perspective, but what would happen to you if they were all brushed away? Chaos.

[BrassFusion]

to put it short and sweet....

Satan/devil/etc... as we know it...was an angel at the time of the universe beginning.

He was at the right hand of god.

God made Satans angel...forgot his name...in charge of the earth as A&E lived on it.

One day, the angel turned on God and said I want to have as much power as you.

I should be in charge.

Afterall, God made him as powerful as such.

God was like no.

Angel turned on God.

Became vengeful.

Wanted man to turn on god.

Thus created SIN....introduced sin to man.

Disobedience.

GOD cast them out of eden.....

Rival btwn God & Satan

Satan says I'll bet you all of man will turn on you.

(Which they have)

except for a small few.

It's been a battle ever since....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Very few men actively rail against god. Not even I do. It's his followers that concern me, and in that category we have christians, jews, muslims, mormons, etc.

[The_Dark]

We are absolutly tiny in comparision to the Universe... and size still does not matter... the Universe is only there because we say it is.

[kellygrrrrrl]

with this thought in mind it does occure to me.....

isn't telling someone NO you can't have that kind of like telling a kid not to put his hand in the cookie jar?

it seems kind of unfair.

But I think when you also look at it like this, it seems more important to the moral of the story...

Say GOD created this giant earth and it had everything we could ever imagine at our disposal.

We have everything.

He gave us this big earth and everything on it.

He's just like...You have everything on this earth at your hand, hey just don't eat that------> O

disobedience, greed, selfishness....

all forms of bad character....

which we just pass down to each generation which just gets worse on a bigger scale...

see a trend?

you only do what we have been taught.

we in essence have inherited "sin".

we do it because it's what we know.

Human nature....

we want what we can't have.

[HipsterDufus]

Creationism in the literal sense bothers me. There are two options and let's logic through them:

1) God is omniscient. This means that God knows everything: past, present, and future. Given this, God knows that he's going to create humanity sometime. He also knows that Eve is going to eat that apple. He also knows that he will get pissed, therefore condemning all of humanity to hell, unless they follow a specific set of rules in order to come back to him. He also knows (in advance, mind you) that the vast majority of humanity will not believe in him or follow his rules. Therefore, he will have to send the vast majority of humanity to hell. So, God knows all of this in advance. Therefore, God is an asshole.

2) God is not omniscient. Then even he is ignorant of what else could be out there and is not worthy of praise or belief.

Keep in mind that I am only arguing the literal belief in creationism. I have no problems with the symbolic belief that many Christians hold.