[roansh]

How does it make you feel? The insignificance of our existence, everything that we ever did, or will ever do.

There's a nice write up on building a model for the scale of universe: https://ciju.in/posts/a-play-with-universe

And another one on visualizing time and big numbers (not as nice:) ): https://rohitshinde.in/blog/visualizing-universe-time-relati...

[morgante]

It actually makes me feel incredibly optimistic. Nothing snaps me out of a depressive episode as effectively as contemplating the scale of the universe.

On a cosmic scale, all my problems are miniscule. Everything that we as a species worry about, from petty politics to global warming, is likewise insignificant.

My heart soars at the vast potential of our universe.

[roansh]

Same for me :) This is a good trick to get out of depressive moods

While I think this[1] holds, I can still use the scale of the universe to get myself out of bad situations

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30852360

[zeristor]

“Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”

Douglas Adams

[bartvk]

RIP, Douglas. I had such fun reading the books, watching the movies.

[OtomotO]

> How does it make you feel? The insignificance of our existence, everything that we ever did, or will ever do.

It (that knowledge that everything I will ever do is absolutely irrelevant on the grand scale of things) makes me feel more powerful than ever and let's me split the relevant stuff from the irrelevant.

Instead of running after one dopamine rush and living my life at 200km/h I enjoy it more.

It takes a lot of pressure away. Maybe being a stoic helps too :D

[roansh]

Haha. yes, nice one. Fits in line with Albert Camus's viewpoint which puts a positive light on it, in similar fashion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQOfbObFOCw

But I am also coming to a conclusion that we shouldn't really let the scale of universe come in way -- but if we can let it affect things positively, great, no harm.

Reason being: For anything to make sense, it has to have some context (example: these words make sense to you, but not to one who doesn't know English). When we make the context (or space, or time) unfathomably larger, things we have control over lose their meaning, their impact, it literally becomes nonsense? And so we should probably keep it away. Good as a thought exercise & fun, but impractical. Now you can counter-argue saying what's "practical," but that defeats the point :)

[00deadbeef]

Remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,

How amazingly unlikely is your birth;

And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space,

'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth!

[imtringued]

Being all powerful and destroying the universe sounds more terrifying.

[roansh]

Had never thought of it this way. Where the tables turn, where we are significant, just like how we are from Earth's point of view. Agree, that is a terrifying thought.