Humanity's Most Urgent Challenge

The most liberating thought for me is that none of our nonsense matters. 99% of all species that ever lived went extinct, and we will too. Maybe we'll be the cause of our demise. Who knows? It is painfully obvious, however, that regardless of whether the Cosmos is conscious or not (and no, scientists are not finding any evidence that it is), it doesn't need us to continue. Other species will replace us, still other species will replace them, and so on for as long as the planet supports life.

And the universe will continue to churn for some 30 billion years hence until it undergoes "heat death;" a phenomenon humanity will not be around to witness. The time we have - the time any conscious species has - is ultimately bounded by the same physical laws that limit the 'life' of the universe. It's pointless to look for hope in quantum theory, which is itself merely describes how the the physical universe works at an infinitesimal - not spiritual - scale. To think otherwise is to think of Deepak Chopra as a scientist, which he is not. Neither is Mr. Elgin, for that matter.

There is still a degree of spirituality in this, and of course we want more existence - more thriving - for ourselves, without incurring irreparable damage to our cousins and the environment we share. But there's really no need at all for fanciful tales about a cosmic consciousness we've somehow managed to disconnect ourselves from. Saying so only shows how deeply self-absorbed we are; how utterly infantile our need for a cosmic parent with whom we can commune.

The universe is not here for us, and we will not be here for its duration. Let's accept that and embrace our good fortune at being alive for the time we've got, and make the best of things for ourselves and our posterity. But let's not pretend there's a greater meaning than that. Doing so can only distract us from the present moment.