Just want to know if you truly understand this:

I think that, in the human being, to the greatest degree, does God get to laugh the most at himself, for on the one hand leaving us in such a state of utter ignorance and blindness, while on the other, seeing life through our eyes, hearts and souls, laughing at himself laughing at himself, with joy, in the triumph of the knowledge that nothing whatsoever was compromised, in the fullness of time and history and the culmination of an eternal cosmic evolutionary process. We shall come to see and know as we are known in other words, rediscovered, by our own selves, or by our no self-self who always was, is and will forver be. What an honor and a priviledge that is then, if the "human element" also contains the universal element, of a divine principal. This really does live within and through us via the qualia of our own experience of being alive, being "included" in it, yes, special, down to a one all of us, no matter how neurotic or ignorant we may be, and going well beyond mere "skin and bones" to that very instinsic thing that we are, authentically, equanimous in the face of an absurd mystery, but one which we just KNOW is upheld by the twin pillars of justice, and mercy.

It get's funny, and then much funnier, yes the absurdity of having taken ourselves seriously based on who and what we thought we WERE.

Who we are becoming we can't possibly say, only that it starts to get interesting, and humorous, once we make the inquiry.

Not insignificant at all. Neccessary - for some strange reason we cannot fully fathom, intellectually, but know, deep down, is absolutely essential, and that IS special indeed, and as luck would have it, absolutely hilarious, because it's a joke at the expense of our own prior ignorance based on who and what we had previously conscieved ourselves to be, like before now.

But we're not "God", just God Godding, something like that!

Best Regards,

Your Brother in Christ
NAM aka Bob.

Then again, I could be wrong.

Originally posted by NewAgeMan

How many life sustaining and habitable worlds are there?

According to the recent understanding along the lines outlined in the OP, there are anywhere between

200 billion TRILLION - to two trillion trillion such planets in the known universe.

I'll come back and post the math to support this, and to show that it's a relatively conservative estimate at that, pegging the number of such planets in each galaxy between 1 and 10 million, with there being 200 billion galaxies (approx) in the known universe.

That's 2 followed by 18, or 17 zeros if you would rather take the conservative estimate of only 1 million such worlds, ave, in each galaxy, on average, instead of 10 million (18 zeros), when it's quite possible they number in the billions (add 4 more zeros for 100 million and then to a billion) per galaxy, especially when moons are included as planetary bodies some of which are capable of "housing" life.

Doesn't matter how you slice and dice these kinds of numbers, either way the number is incredibly HUGE!

from the thread Is the Universe Teeming with Life? New Study Suggests BILLIONS of Alien Worlds in Milky Way Galaxy, by NewAgeMan.



Like I was saying, we can't take ourselves THAT seriously either!

Who the heck knows what's REALLY going on, or who and what we REALLY are for that matter! It's absurd.

WE'RE absurd, ridiculously out of touch with reality.

So the joke it just keeps rolling...!

reply to post by jiggerj


Good job on the Op, funny, true and just what I have been contemplating of recent.

But does that really make us insignificant, in the domain of being and becoming, that we are but a small part of a very very big picture, I don't think so. What's significant, is that we are included, deeply so, perhaps much much more than we know..

Maybe we were mistaken to think of the human being, or life, as a "thing" or a bunch of things, that could be a flawed presupposition as to the nature of life, reality the universe and everything.

Then again, that's kind of funny, thinking of the human being as a thing, yet unable to get into synch with that experiencially, means we may be in the world, but at some level are not entirely of it.

Maybe the notion of the human being as a thing, is itself just the liberation we need to realize that we cannot be identified exclusively in the form of matter, but do possess a spiritual element that resides in a timeless, spaceless domain.

No, we're not a separate thing, we're intinstic to an eternal cosmic evolutionary process, which yes has something in mind that we cannot possibly fathom. It's crazy.

To think that we knew anything is ridiculous, but to think that we aren't anything, is false. There's something going on here with man as a phenomenon, something important, even vital.

It's doesn't matter if there are 2 trillion trillion habitable worlds in the universe, does it?

Everything still seems "relevant" to me here where I sit.

It just makes things even better know just how significant we and the whole of creation really is, and it makes me feel a deep sense of gratitude for having been included at any level, oh God if I could but serve in your house, that I might remain with you where you are. (ignore little prayerful outburst if not so inclined).

reply to post by jiggerj


Ok then my man, was good chatting with you.

Originally posted by NewAgeMan
And the truth, let us remember, is probably rather solipsistic no matter who or where you are, whether a human being on planet earth, or a schmorg on (inpronouncible).

And if you're a Schmorg on (unpronounceable) then to you, I'll bet the whole universe and all of life is spread out before you like a giant schmorgesboard (I couldn't resist). Point is, you can be certain that they really appreciate the larger frame of reference, whereas we do not, presuming instead, and falsely, that it simply reduces us to a speck of dust - how pathetically "human" on our part!

Seriously, I think I "get" what the OP is saying, how we fancy ourselves the Lords of all creation, but only prove ourselves to be blithering idiots. But maybe that too is unique to our human experience, and part of what makes us uniquely human, and, if I might say so myself, uniquely humorous in our own fumbling, bumbling way, blinded, not just by our lack of understanding and knowledge but in our own ego-centric, narcissistic vanity - how absurd and ridiculous! No, I doubt there's greater potential for humor, of the best kind, than via the human being, both exalted on the one hand, and immediately humbled on the other.

What are we to do? It's a real predicament.

But why down us? Isn't it already hard enough as it is? Personally, I think what we need much more of, is encouragement! To "be all we can be" and all that good, smarmy-sounding "fluff". What else is there to do? Run away, to hide, while shouting to the rooftops "I'm not worthy, I'm an insignificant nothing!" or, stand tall, relative to the whole of all creation, within which we are already included and not excluded, and boldly declare "I AM" a human being having a uniquely human experience, and I freely choose to be just that, nothing more nothing less.

If there's no escaping it, why not try to see where it goes and take it to the max..?!

The "Schmorgs" do no less, intuitively and automatically, so why can't we?

I think our "Americanized" style of thinking is all flawed and that yes, we've been approaching the whole thing from the wrong frame of reference, or the wrong presupposition, right out of the gate while at the same time shooting ourselves in the foot unnecessarily. Then again, that does sound rather human.

Originally posted by NewAgeMan
reply to post by jiggerj

 

It's all part of one great process, and our ability to observe it all and marvel at it all, and reflect, that's really something, it changes everything, the awareness of the beauty and magnificence and the almost miraculous nature of the great mystery of all time - that's special!

I know you're using 'special' to raise man above all else, and I disagree. Birds developed wings - that's special. Giraffes grew ridiculously long necks to get at food higher in the tree - that's special. Mankind developed big brains - that's special, but not MORE special.

reply to post by jiggerj


would you rather get the opportunity to experience existence as a man, a pigeon, or a giraffe?

Originally posted by ImaFungi
reply to post by jiggerj

 

would you rather get the opportunity to experience existence as a man, a pigeon, or a giraffe?

That's not the point. Somewhere along the line of evolution we went one way, everything else went another way. But it all started with the exact same first cell. Trees are great. Bugs are great. We are great. It's all great. lol Instead of thinking we are better or superior, maybe we should count ourselves as LUCKY!

reply to post by jiggerj


The double slit experiment is showing that nothing can appear without a surface to appear on. Whether it is the camera that is observing or whether it is an eye that is observing. Notice as well in the experiment that there has to be a back screen/surface for the particle/wave impression to be recieved on otherwise it would never be seen.
A rainbow cannot appear without some water molecules being present for the light to appear as color and that color would never be seen without an observer. The (conscious) observer is the screen (surface) on which the whole of existence is painted on.