
Are We Important to the Universe? - febin
http://nautil.us/blog/are-we-important-to-the-universe
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mattbgates
Interesting question, but I'd think we can deduce it by asking: Do we really
matter to an object that we have determined is about 15 billion years old by
what we can measure?

There are trillions of ants on this Earth. Does a single ant in any particular
colony really matter to a 90 year old human being? Probably not.

Now here's another interesting way to look at it which does give value and
purpose to every mass in existence in the universe: the universe is a coding
platform.

It is capable of writing its own code, which in turn, creates objects that
contain elements which can create beings that are self-aware, thus it may be
that the universe uses its own artificial intelligence to create us, and
therefore we might just be artificially intelligent, only to the extent that
our minds allow us, and while the imagination seems capable of everything, our
capabilities are limited by the resources we have available.

In the grand scheme of things, when writing code, does a single line of code
actually matter? It only matters when it is given a purpose to perform a
function that helps the rest of the application. Upon completion of the entire
application, that one line likely matters. Before then, it matters to the
extent that it is getting called and making things happen.

Are human beings simply a line of code necessary for the development to
further the universe? Or in the grand scheme of things, are we really
necessary for the universe to operate, or does it go on without us? We have
had the advantage of becoming one of the most numerous species on the planet,
numbers in the billions, though many insects number in the trillions.

Destroy the Earth. Did we ever truly matter? The universe would still go on.
Thus, I think we are only important for ourselves, not the universe. And the
hundreds of thousands of species that existed before us, and the hundreds of
thousands of species that will likely exist long after the last human being on
this planet dies off, can attest to the fact that maybe the universe is simply
an artificial platform to experience itself, unbound, uncaring, indifferent to
the very things that happen within its vast space.

