Were Humans Destined to Exist?

This is a snippet of a larger conversation taking place on Crash Course Pods: The Universe. Over 11 episodes, John Green and Katie Mack walk through the entire history of the universe…even the parts that aren’t written yet.

Hosted by: John Green and Katie Mack
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[DanielThomasHutton]

Humans value things that are rare, but then question our own value when we find out how ridiculously rare we are.

[Linares]

Given enough time, Hydrogen starts to wonder where it came from, and where its going.

[DemPilafian]

I would argue that Carl Sagan was not saying that "none of us matter" but rather that everyone that matters to you is on that tiny little blue dot. That tiny little blue dot matters a whole lot to you and me.

[jadusiv]

Kind of an odd survivorship bias type premise. Doesn’t make a lot of sense but I guess it’s an interesting conversational starting point.

“Astronomy is matter becoming aware of other matter” is my favorite version of the thought at the end.

[theanyktos]

John on Scishow!? What a rare and wonderful treat!

[chillsahoy]

Learning about the grand scale of the universe makes me feel very small, but in a good way. The fact that I'm able to experience this unvierse at all is beautiful.

[johnwbuxton]

We may not matter to the universe, it was chugging along just fine before we got here and it will keep going after we're gone, but here and now we matter to each other.

We have an impact on everyone we come in contact with, so let's use this short time we have to help make things a bit more enjoyable for those around us. Because that's really what matters.

[TheOnyxFlame]

Fun fact! The Pale Blue Dot photo was taken on the exact day I was born, even accounting for the speed of light

[lindaseel]

Hey John, it's good to see you. I for one, am glad there is a you. You are not a random glitch in the universe. You make life on Earth better for all with your work and nice personality.

[generalnawaki]

We're the universe making out with itself in the mirror.

[raphaelgarcia]

Just because we’re alive and self aware doesn’t give us any importance or meaning to the universe around us. We just are, and ever so fleetingly.

[jasonkinzie]

We don't matter to the universe but so what? The universe doesn't matter to the universe. Nothing matters to the universe because its a universe and not a person. Nothing matters to my furniture either. But we matter to each other and ourselves. And that's all that matters, no pun intended.

[BartAnderson_writer]

The free will question is the modern equivalent to the Medieval debate about how many angels can fit on the head of a pin.
In other words, we are the victims of our assumptions.

[seanmccaul]

I’d just like to encourage anyone who hasn’t listened to John’s and Katie’s podcast to give it a try. They are very fun and very informative, and I look forward to reading Katie’s book! I give this podcast 5 stars. 👍😀

[bakedpotato]

Well at least we are in this matter together

[LordWaterBottle]

"Free Will" hides in the chaotic systems, the systems so sensitive to initial conditions that to even know them would break the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

[DemonXeron]

As far as we know, the highest concentration of love in the universe is on this Earth. If that's not something significant, I don't know what is.

[oceanbearmountain]

as a philosophy grad who engages with science much more than my peers & colleagues, it would be nice one day to hear science folks, when they start getting into philosophy territory, maybe actually allude to and quote the philosophical problems and debates they are dipping their toes into, maybe even quote a philosopher instead of [isn't it almost always] Sagan or Feynman... y'know?

[hecate]

Jacques Vallee made a very interesting observation in one of his books. In intelligence work, a spy knows that if he's got 95% of the intel, that's the easy stuff. It's the 5% he doesn't have that gives all the answers.
That 5% of the universe that's "regular matter, " may be the really interesting, important part.

[marcbarrett]

AFAIK, with the exception of the old SciShow quiz show, I believe this is the first time John has appeared on SciShow.