Throughout the first few weeks of class, what I’ve found to be extraordinarily interesting in the field of astronomy is not so much the scientific discoveries we have come to understand, but rather what these findings can teach us in the philosophical challenges of life. For instance, one of the many perplexing conversations we’ve had – I believe it occurred on the very first day – was the concept of the scale of our universe and attempting to comprehend how massive a world in which we live. [Note: I use world in italics here, because after this discussion, it becomes evident that our language takes for granted the size of our surrounding universe and all the mysteries that lie within the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond.] It’s a bit freaky to think about at times, but in understanding human existence on the grand scale of things, our lives become less and less relevant the more you think about the fact that our universe was created 13.8 billion years ago, or that we may never explore beyond the edges of the galactic disk.
In discussing these sorts of things, many questions of life begin to spin around my head: Does a God really exist? What happens when life comes to an end? With such a short period of time, why do we constantly surround ourselves with war and conflict? But, at the very same time, aside from all the questions that arise, there are just as many moments that I sit back and simply exclaim, “Wow!” There’s so much for us to appreciate – we truly are in such a unique situation – and the near impossibility of existence is a reason to celebrate each and every day that we are given.
*Image above found via Wikimedia Commons
