I live on a planet orbiting a star we call “the Sun.” Our star is one star in a galaxy of hundreds of billions of stars. Our galaxy is one of a hundred billion galaxies in what we call “the Universe.” I’m not sure if there is only one universe or multiple universes.
Our universe is about 14 billion years old. It began with an event we call “the Big Bang.” At a very short time after the Big Bang, and at the end of what we call “the Expansion,” our universe was rapidly expanding but the total amount of energy and matter (I call it “enermatter”) was some finite amount, and that amount has not increased or decreased since the Expansion.
On our planet, at least, all matter began as inanimate and less than four billion years ago, the first animate matter appeared. All matter – inanimate or animate – is made of the same constituents we call “atoms.” The difference is that animate matter is capable of making copies of itself from other inanimate or animate matter. I believe this is a consequence of time and random chemical reactions.
Animate matter began as relatively simple single-cell life forms and evolved into relatively complex life forms. All life forms have the same purpose; they survive and reproduce. Viruses are not life forms, per se, because they are parasitic entities that must use the facilities of life forms in order to reproduce. Yet of all animate matter, viruses, perhaps the simplest, are the greatest threat to our survival. A subject for another post.
We humans, today, are members of species homo sapiens. We are primates who have evolved with unique intelligence capabilities. That has given us a leg up on competition with all other life forms. It may also lead to our destruction and, perhaps that of most other of Earth’s life forms, before the Sun goes nova and finishes the job.
We homo sapiens have advanced competitively because of our ability to observe, learn, and communicate, and to leave records of our learning behind for succeeding generations. One thing that seems to be endemic to all homo sapiens is a need to understand where we came from and why we’re here. So many of us feel that if there is no grand plan, then why bother to live, work and procreate.
I don’t believe there is a grand plan beyond surviving and reproducing. And, that plan is not something bestowed on us by a creator. It is something fundamental to the emergence of animate matter. I’m here because my parents combined ovum and sperm. I live because that insemination resulted in my birth. And, I will surely cease living at some time. What I do or do not do during that period of life has nothing to do with some creator’s master plan. For me, at least, what I do or do not do is based on what gives me satisfaction, avoids discomfort, and does not consciously put some other life form at risk of dying. Life is precious. It is fleeting. The most important of the ten commandments, allegedly bestowed upon us by a creator, is Thou Shalt Not Kill. Not just other homo sapiens, but chickens, pigs, and cattle. We have no right to take another being’s life!