Philosophy - Thinking Woman's Diary

Is That All There Is?

Written: 23rd May 2004 | Last Updated: 23rd May 2004

Was the cosmos created by sheer chance? Is there a great deity to whom we all must give thanks? Is all existence the miracle it is by design or by physics?

In explanation, Christianity has given us Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden...Science has given us The Big Bang and other explosive theories. But somehow, not one hypothesis stands up and remains absolute - beyond questioning.

If we and all the animals, fish, insects, plants, microbes and so on of Earth do prove to be the only living things that exist, we’ll have to face up to a gargantuan responsibility. Namely, that we are in charge of everything - the health and well-being of all things as well as the survival of our planet, our galaxy, and all the known and unknown planets, comets, meteors, stars and every particle of dust out there. Now THAT’S scary!

Because, if Earth happens to be the only habitable ball in space, we’re really going to have to take care of it, aren’t we? Following on from that, it makes ugly, destructive and avoidable events like wars and the current scourge of terrorism seem pretty stupid when you take a look at the bigger picture, don’t you think? If this magnificent, spinning orb is the only domain there is, shouldn’t we be helping one another with every conceivable idea, facility, resource and so on to maintain it in as pristine a condition as possible?

Believing in aliens is, I think, a bit of a cop out. It’s easy to say “...well, aliens did it!” rather than trying to understand why we humans do the things we do. It suits our small-mindedness to think that someone else is responsible for the entire universe and beyond infinity. It’s really a tad too challenging to accept that something that big is our gig.

If aliens do, in fact, exist...and my hunches are way up the wrong tree...then I hope we can work out some kind of universal theme so all of us can get along. But if my hunches are correct, then each of us must search deep into our souls to understand not only the consequences of our loneliness, but the duty of honour and responsibility we owe to one another and to our spectacular environment.

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