
Ask HN: How do you rationalize the enormity of the universe and everyday life? - hsikka
I&#x27;m constantly haunted by the fact that there is so much danger, beauty, and unknown in the universe. I feel I owe those around me, and that I need to help humanity progress. But I&#x27;m no genius, and my problems are so mundane. If I struggle here, how can I ever transcend and do my people justice? Does anyone else feel like this?
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savethefuture
"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do
it." \- Gandhi Simply existing progresses humanity, but I feel you should find
something you are passionate about and do the best you can at it, whatever it
is, it will benefit someone somewhere somehow. You should stop fearing the
"afterlife" and worry more about this reality.

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hsikka
Well said, friend. Thank you.

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jmts
In 1675 Isaac Newton wrote in a letter to Robert Hooke "If I have seen
further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants". While this is poetic,
and shows humility and respect for those who came before him, one should be
careful not to convince yourself that these giants are superhuman or that they
had no help themselves. Humanity is where it is today after millions upon
millions of incremental advances each supported on all sides by thousands more
that came before them.

We would not be here were it not for the early farmers asking a question and
exploring the answers to eventually develop agricuture. We would not be here
if many thousands of years ago there were not people who noticed a tiny piece
of something strange amidst the coals of a hot fire to plunge us into the
bronze age. Those people no longer have names to immortalise them, but neither
do the people around them that helped them become the people they were
destined to be. Their families, their friends, their communities, and those
they traded with because there was some benefit or progress to be made. And
these people are just as important to humanity as any whose name will be
remembered forever.

Galileo didn't invent the telescope. But he was among the first to point it to
the heavens. You should not look to imitate what Galileo did however. But you
can certainly follow his motivations. Learn what you can about all things
around you. Satisfy your curiosity. Build your knowledge. Learn your tools.
Follow your passions, whatever they are in life. Strive to do good, and
greatness may find you. But most of all, keep your mind open to the
possibilities. You may not become Newton, but you may just become the person
to cultivate that apple tree, without which we may not have had Newton at all.

