Is it normal the vastness of the universe freaks me out?

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21 Comments

As you of course know, the universe is a gigantic place. We humans are much less than tiny bacteria in comparison. Because eventually we're all gonna die, we're even TEMPORARY bacteria at that. All the things we do, might matter to ourselves and to maybe a few others, but in the larger picture they don't matter at all. My problem is that I want to matter though. How should I deal with this?

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Based on 71 votes (64 yes)
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Comments ( 21 )
  • -Solitude-
    11 years ago

    I don't really care now insignificant humanity is (I don't hate humanity, I just think it's fine to live, love and advance without having to be important on a cosmic scale). Also, I believe that the bigger the universe is, the more there is to potentially explore and experience.

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    • BLAh81
      11 years ago

      Interesting point of view.

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  • dappled
    11 years ago

    Me too if I think about it too much. At school, I took special options in nuclear physics and astrophysics and it's even scarier when you go from the very small to the impossibly large. My physics teacher used to say that a friend of his at university once got so freaked out by it, they committed suicide. There are certainly times when I know I have to stop thinking.

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    • VioletTrees
      11 years ago

      I was almost that friend in elementary school, honestly.

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      • BLAh81
        11 years ago

        It's good you're still around.

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        • VioletTrees
          11 years ago

          Aw, thanks.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      "There are certainly times when I know I have to stop thinking."

      Yes, that's probably the best remedy, since you can't change it anyway. After all, ignorance IS bliss. Unfortunately, something inside of me kinda forces me to think about certain stuff, even if I don't really want to. There's always an internal dialogue going on inside me. Very annoying. Do you have that too?

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      • dappled
        11 years ago

        Yes, and I do have that. Sometimes I can't be shut up. It makes me crazy to think about (just like determinism makes me crazy because I instinctively believe it must be true but even as I'm typing these words I'm deliberately not thinking about their implication).

        Off to the next post before I think too much about this!

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      • VioletTrees
        11 years ago

        I don't know about dappled, but I have that. I have a lot of difficulty controlling what I think about, actually. Sometimes, when I try to think about other things, it gets worse. The thoughts I'm trying to avoid force their way in.

        When I was in about third grade, it started to really bother me how small we are, how short a time we live, and how we spend far, far more time being dead than we spend living. It was a big contributor to my childhood depression. It still bothers me sometimes, but I'm usually much more ok with it now. I do have other intrusive thoughts, though. The fact that I'm more ok with it is partially the product of a good bit of therapy.

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  • Short4Words
    11 years ago

    First step would be to probably stop thinking of the human race as bacteria. That type of thinking is the road to shitsville.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      But in comparison we ARE bacteria, right?

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      • sYki
        11 years ago

        Umm, this might make things worse but it's more like our galaxy is like a bacteria of the universe, our solar system is like a bacteria of our galaxy, our planet is a tiny part of our solar system, we are each a tiny part of our planet, then thinking about multiple universes.... "there are more stars in the heavens than EVERY GRAIN OF SAND on the planet" and each star is a potential solar system with multiple planets orbiting them. We're in the same boat, I think it's normal. I'd go into more detail and add links but I'm on my phone and have to start work. We're so small it doesn't matter to care that we're small, live your life.

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        • BLAh81
          11 years ago

          "there are more stars in the heavens than EVERY GRAIN OF SAND on the planet"

          Yes, I've heard that too many times. It's not necessarily that I don't believe it, but I do wonder how people ever came to know this. Could you perhaps tell me? I'd really like to know.

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          • sYki
            11 years ago

            They don't really know this, its just an estimate from taking a section of sky and using powerful telescopes and counting the stars in the area as deep as they can. Then they multiply that number by the number of sections in the sky...to put it bluntly.

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            • BLAh81
              11 years ago

              I see. Thanks!

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      • myboyfriendsbitch
        11 years ago

        Only if there are beings who exist with 1000 x the capacity we are granted. We could be a part of some being's body for all i know.Either way, bacteria is an important part of this biosphere we call our earth and if we are, in comparison, bacteria, we are still playing a very important role in life and existence.

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        • BLAh81
          11 years ago

          "Only if there are beings who exist with 1000 x the capacity we are granted"

          Well, if such beings don't exist, we are STILL like bacteria I think, because of the incredible vastness of space. The absence of such beings may make us somewhat more important alright, but I don't think the absence of such beings would make us any less bacteria-like. We would still be immensely tiny in the universe.

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      • 1000yrVampireKing
        11 years ago

        We are not one cell organisms. A lot of bacteria and germs are one cell organisms. So that is not a accurate statement. People have many cells.

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          11 years ago

          You are right, we indeed are not one cell organisms, as opposed to certain other lifeforms. However, when I described the human race as bacteria, I didn't LITERALLY mean bacteria, I merely meant extremely tiny. I used the term "bacteria" simply to emphasize how tiny we are. Perhaps I should've been a bit clearer.

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  • Mcwp
    11 years ago

    It's comforting in a way... Space is so vast we can't comprehend it completely. There's an argument that there is a lot out there we don't understand. We can't possibly. I don't think we are meant to. That lends a positive argument to there might be some sort of life after death. It's all possible. We just don't know and can't comprehend it. Just try to switch off or 'zoom in'!! And live as good a life as you can. Be happy and try to make others happy too.

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  • myboyfriendsbitch
    11 years ago

    Tis a frightening thing, this universe in which we dwell. We survive, in fear that existence is not as complex as we imagine. We advance in hope that we are serving a greater purpose. Man becomes evil when he finds himself more significant than existence. Man is good when he thinks of himself in relation to all that surrounds him. Man will cease to exist when he finds his life insignificant.

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