Comment by smokel
12 hours ago
Whether something is important or unimportant is something that only humans, and possibly some animals, and possibly some AI, can reason about. Most of the universe does not reason, and does not think that things are important or not.
Importance is a local concept, and it can be quite relevant locally.
https://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm
Or perhaps the universe is overflowing with minds we haven't found yet!
I am sometimes tickled and intrigued by the (very New Agey woo-flavored) idea that consciousness is the fundamental building block of reality, not matter.
It makes absolutely no sense and at the same time makes about as much sense as anything.
“… we are the universe, experiencing itself subjectively.”
I agree so much. For all we know yet, there's nothing out there. Nothing conscious or even sentient. So our lives and the life on earth are infinitely important.
I never understood this `we're but a speck`. Do you know of many other specks with life ?
The universe has been around long before humans existed, and it will be here long after humans no longer exist. If humans are the best the universe has, then that's just a sad bit of commentary. Not understanding the but a speck is just denying fact. We may be the only speck with life, but we're just a speck with life. If the life on this speck was able to hop from speck to speck and utilize all of the universe, we could have a conversation.
How does existence of life outside Earth (or lack of it) change importance of our life in the grand scheme of things?
It's important because we seem to be the only (visible) thing that can scheme.
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Fine. s/important/significant/ or any other word you feel befitting.