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It's Hard Because It Is [1]

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Date: 2023-03-07  

Whatever your beliefs, the universe is a pretty special place. But it is huge, and uncaring for us - yet we might be the most significant creation to come out of it - the universe contemplating itself.

Why is everything so damned hard? No matter how successful you are at some thing, other things elude you. It's just the nature of life. But why? Why why why why why?

Science gives us some glimpses of why things are not easy. The second law of thermodynamics is basically summed up by "any system will get more disordered with time". And here we are, living beings that beat that pesky 2nd law by being so darned complex. Until the universe wins.

Life is persistent, I think it is ubiquitous throughout the universe, but it in the end it'll be no match for the big picture of the universe as we understand it now. Of course, that understanding might change, so maybe our great grand-kids, if they get the chance, might believe in a different cosmological model. But right now it seems as if we are in a passing phase in the universe where life like us can exist. In the far future, as the universe tends towards its "heat death", life will become much more rare and difficult. As if life isn't difficult enough now!

But are there, or have been, any other beings that rival our level of science and engineering? We're mired with the singular example of a technological society, so it's difficult to extrapolate.

But can you imagine the ability to go into space without processed metals? could a world without the oxygen produce energetic enough creatures to create technology? Could metals be produced without fire?

We can't know right now - there are no other examples to compare. I find it hard to imagine creatures living in an ocean trapped below a layer of ice being able to evolve into something like us. I don't doubt that wondrous things are possible, and quite possible extant elsewhere (maybe even relatively nearby us), but technology seems a stretch for a world like Europa. Yet, the oxygen in our atmosphere almost destroyed life on the planet. Oxygen is bad news for organic chemicals We are made of organic chemicals. Hey! Another reason why "It's Hard"

And what we see in other solar systems makes me wonder - our “Jupiters” are cold, many other systems seems to have giant planets close to the primary star. It it seems that our inner solar system is quite a bit more empty than most (all?) that we've spied so far. The arrangement of our planets does not appear common. This arrangement seems to have allowed us to live in a quiet corner of the universe, not prone to major collisions on a frequent basis.

So now let's look at it socially - I play musical instruments, I'm handy on the bass guitar and I can sing lead vocals at the same time. Plenty of guitarists want to jam with me, but for the most part I keep my playing to trios. because when you add a 4th member the communications become about 10 times harder. And each member after that makes it progressively hard to communicate in real time among the entire ensemble. After about 6 members there had better be an agreed leader, otherwise it's unlikely that cogent progress will happen. Now think of a band with 1000 members. Or 350 million.

Or billions and billions.

But we live in an odd universe, where the very small and the very large converge. We understand a lot, but there are very fundamental things that are hardly understood. Societies have achieved great things, then collapsed. Our hand can caress a loved one and also ball into a fist and become a lethal weapon. We choose how to employ the tools we create.

And we have more in common with each other than we have differences. Choose kindness.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/7/2156719/-It-s-Hard-Because-It-Is

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