“It seems to me, while it’s true that every dog will have his day.
When all the bones are buried there is barely time to go outside and play” ~ Dog Years, Rush
I haven’t had time for writing, or much of anything else in recent weeks. My new job duties take a good bit more time, and considerably more energy than my previous assignment. Odds are after a few months of adjustment things will settle into a less intense routine, but for now my time is limited and posts to this space will remain sparse for a while.
Time is an interesting concept. Remember when you were a kid, how time seemed to drag on forever, especially when you were looking forward to something: Christmas, your birthday, summer vacation, or high school graduation for example. All seemed to take their own sweet time in arriving didn’t they?
My first year in elementary school seemed to drag on forever, but second grade flew by at almost twice the speed. The few years we spend in school seem to last forever while we’re there, but once we’re finished and getting on with life, twice as many years go by in what seems like the blink of an eye.
One day we’re children, reveling in the glory of youth and our own seeming immortality; blissfully ignorant. Then one day we awaken to discover that we’re only immortal for a limited time.
“Summer’s going fast, nights growing colder; children growing up, old friends growing older” ~ Time Stand Still, Rush
Time rolls on forever and we live out our short, insignificant lives on a tiny ball of carbon, hurtling through the incomprehensible vacuum of space at unimaginable speed.
If you really think about it, the entire history of human civilization amounts to little more than a tiny fraction of the billions of years gone by since the Big Bang. Current scientific evidence indicates that the universe is probably about 14 billion years old, and our planet is thought to be just over 4.5 billion years old. That’s a long time by any standard.
In contrast, we Homo sapiens have existed in our present form for only about 200,000 years. Out of 14 billion years, that’s a relative drop in the ocean, 1/70,000 of the time since the beginning of the known universe, and only 1/22,500 of the time elapsed since our planet was born.
What we call civilization, beginning with the agricultural revolution approximately 8,000 years ago, accounts of only 1/25th of the time human beings have walked the the surface of the world.
It’s all a bit humbling when you think about it. I’ve seen one analogy that equates the history of our planet to a twenty-four hour day and the time since the American Revolution, 235 years, equates to the last few seconds of the final minute before midnight.
Human life, when compared with astronomical numbers such as these begins to look more like what it truly is, a flash in the pan. We’re born and spend what must seem like an eternity from the perspective of a small child, learning the basics of human existence; walking, talking, feeding, and cleaning ourselves, then we begin our education and time begins to move a bit faster each year.
It’s a trick of perspective that makes time appear to flow more quickly as we age. One day to a six year old child is about 1/2,200 of their entire experience to that point, but the same twenty-four hour period is roughly equal to 1/10,000 of the lifetime of a 27 year old human being has lived. The longer we live the shorter each year seems relative to our total life experience, thus time flies ever faster.
Humans are thought to be the only self aware species on Earth. We are introspective creatures and this often leads us to think of ourselves as superior and more important than we really are. Does anyone honestly believe that anything we do, or say, or write today will be remembered 5,000 or 10,000 years into the future? I’m betting not.
We are born, live a few decades, and die, passing into history and obscurity as thousands of generations of our ancestors have done before us, and thousands more will after we’re forgotten. Such is the fate of our busy little lives.
Our time here is short, and we may only get to go around once – no one really knows – so make the most of every day you have. I’m reminded of the new commandments, discovered inscribed in an ancient silver bracelet in the novel, Jesus Swept.
Ya know, I seem to experience time far differently than most of my species. Whether I’m anxiously awaiting or dreading some event/experience, time seems to drag by. For me, I feel as if my life of 52+ years has really taken about one billion years.
Of course, everyone’s understanding of time is based on self-consciousness. So, in a manner speaking, I can say I’ve been alive for all time — at least all the time I’ve been alive. While I understand that there are times that predate my existence and time that will continue after this form of existence, the only time I really understand is the time of my consciousness. So, all those other times really have no meaning.
I’m often in a quandry as to how special we are. On the one hand as you said, we’re a flash in the pan – newcomers to the scene. Newborns even given the age of everything else around us.
On the other hand, it’s only our observation of the universe that gives anything meaning. What I mean is, if the supermassive blackhole at the center of our galaxy explodes, it doesn’t care either way. The only things which will care are living creatures. And that makes us special because in a way, we’re the observers of the universe – the only beings who give a shit. Nothing else does.
The stars are beautiful only because of us. Without us to look at them, they’re just lonely balls of gas. And finally, we’re part of the universe too – not separate. So in a way, it’s the universe that is observing itself. When we look out, we’re actually looking at ourselves – or rather another component of us.
So it’s funny really. We’re special because we’re conscious (and not just humans mind – any conscious life), but at the same time, we’re ridiculously self important and think too much of ourselves.
Maybe those who wrote that Bible book were in search of some timeless immortality of their own? Gotta hand it to ‘em, they’re on a good long run. Whether the New Testament and the life of Jesus, and who he may or may not have been, is real or imagined, they have successfully attached themselves to the Old Testament, for what seems permanently now, and many people still read it every day.
Some may see the relatively uneventful life of one human as insignificant if they just love their spouse, care for their children, do their jobs, pay their bills, and occasionally party with their friends. How did they make the world a better place? Were they less important than one who changed the world? Were they less essential than a mover and/or shaker? One would have to ask their spouses, children, business associates, and friends. Those are probably the only opinions that matter to the unknown human, anyway, and likely their lives were not wasted time.
From another perspective, it has to be hard to be out there where so many know one’s name. It really can’t be easy to be the head of state, an astronaut, a rock star; Jesus. The fame and the money can generally cause as many problems as they cure. One would wonder if they were loved for who they are or what they can do for somebody else. And there is certainly the possibility they will be misunderstood or misrepresented by some stranger who records their history and contributions to ours for their own profit and personal gain. Accepting the things we cannot change and changing the things we can, while somehow gaining the wisdom to know the difference is really all we can do (The Serenity Prayer http:// http://www.cptryon.org/prayer/special/serenity.html.com), especially if time will eventually erase us from its memory regardless.