The Universe is our Enemy
The Universe
We are experiencing a cultural resurgence in the call to align ourselves with the Universe. Our ancestors believed the Universe held the answers, and that these answers prioritized our best interests. We operated with these beliefs for millennia. Then, we started questioning and doubting these default views. We started looking elsewhere for answers. Throughout periods of Enlightenment, we made new discoveries and learned about ourselves and our world. Nothing gave us the satisfaction we were looking for, however. We found leaks in our systems of belief. We dreamed to live like the gods we envisioned but woke up to limitations of human existence. The empty meaning in our post-modern pursuits was disheartening. Now, we are making our retreat. We are returning to the Universe. After all, the Universe is all around us. It was before we were. It is all we know, and it fills the gap of what we don’t know. We cannot eat without it. We cannot drink without it. We cannot breathe without it. We cannot exist without it.And we like life. We pursue life. Without life, there is nothing else. The Universe gives us life.
The Universe is our Enemy
The Universe also kills us. We die from natural causes. We suffer extensively, and we remain in the dark without justification. But we rarely blame the Universe. Our maker must love us, right?Do we love the coal we burn to give us warmth? Enough not to burn it? Do we love the fruit that grows in our garden? Enough not to eat it? Do we consider the coal or the fruit to be our equals? The Universe does not care about our goals or love us as equals. And why should it?
We are an evolutionary exhalation, discarded to frailty in old age once our bodies have procreated a new mutation to feed the Universe. Aging is a disease. We are programmed to learn in order to live, to love in order to raise children, and to die in order to make room for the next iteration. A sacrificial pawn. A speck of color in the broad sweeping brush strokes of Life.
The Universe may give us life, but it also brings about our death. What do we call those who try to kill us?
The Universe is our Mother
We could not exist without the Universe. The Universe is our parent. And what do we owe to our parents? Do we owe a debt for an existence we never requested?The Universe is our Lover
The Universe is playing a different game than we are, operating at unfathomable degrees of magnitude and complexity.It’s way out of our league.
We cling to the Universe for value and for meaning. Relationships with this much discrepancy in leverage are toxic. For a relationship like this to function, one or all partners need to change. The Universe will not change for us. If we want this relationship to work, we need to make some serious changes ourselves.
So what game is the Universe playing? What does the Universe care about, if anything? Why does it exist? What enables its existence? We can observe constant experimentation and change with an indefinite time horizon. Is this for survival’s sake or for some other end? Maybe if we start to understand this game and its rules, we can start to play, too. Maybe, we can upskill and evolve in ways that level the playing field and bring balance to the relationship. Maybe, if we change our goals and our methods, we can embody the purpose of the Universe rather than simply align with it. If we play our cards right, we can queen the pawn, and the Universe can become our Lover.