Optimistic Nihilism

0:00 Human existence is scary and confusing.

0:04 A few hundred thousand years ago,

0:06 we became conscious and found ourselves in a strange place.

0:09 It was filled with other beings.

0:11 We could eat some; some could eat us.

0:14 There was liquid stuff we could drink; things we could use to make more things.

0:19 The daytime sky had a tiny yellow ball that warmed our skin.

0:22 The night sky was filled with beautiful lights.

0:25 This place was obviously made for us.

0:28 Something was watching over us.

0:29 We were home.

0:31 This made everything much less scary and confusing.

0:35 But the older we got, the more we learned about the world and ourselves.

0:38 We learned that the twinkling lights are

0:41 not shining beautifully for us, they just are.

0:43 We learned that we're not at the center of what we now call the universe,

0:46 and that it is much, much older than we thought.

0:49 We learned that we're made of many little dead things,

0:52 which make up bigger things that are not dead,

0:54 for some reason, and that we're just another temporary

0:57 stage in a history going back over a billion years.

1:01 We learned, in awe, that we live on a moist speck of dust moving

1:05 around a medium-sized star in a quiet region of one arm of an average galaxy,

1:08 which is part of a galaxy group that we will never leave.

1:11 And this group is only one of thousands that, together,

1:15 make up a galaxy supercluster.

1:16 But even our supercluster is only one in thousands

1:19 that make up what we call the observable universe.

1:22 The universe might be a million times bigger, but we will never know.

1:27 We can throw words around like two hundred million

1:30 galaxies or trillions of stars or bazillions of planets,

1:33 but all of these numbers mean nothing.

1:36 Our brains can't comprehend these concepts.

1:38 The universe is too big.

1:39 There is too much of it.

1:42 But size is not the most troubling concept we have to deal with.

1:45 It's time, or, more precisely, the time we have.

1:49 If you're lucky enough to live to one hundred,

1:51 you have five thousand two hundred weeks at your disposal.

1:55 If you're twenty-five now, then you have three thousand nine hundred weeks left.

1:59 If you're going to die at seventy,

2:02 then there are two thousand three hundred and forty

2:04 weeks left- a lot of time, but also...

2:08 not really.

2:09 And then what?

2:10 Your biological processes will break down,

2:13 and the dynamic pattern that is you will stop beinge dynamic.

2:17 It will dissolve until there is no you left.

2:20 Some believe that there is a part of us we can't see or measure,

2:23 but we have no way to find out,

2:26 so this life might be it and we might end up dead forever.

2:30 This is less scary than it sounds, though.

2:33 If you don't remember the 13.75 billion years that went by before you existed,

2:37 Then the trillions and trillions and trillions of years

2:40 that come after will pass in no time once you're gone.

2:43 Close your eyes.

2:45 Count to 1.

2:47 That's how long forever feels.

2:49 And as far as we know, in the end,

2:52 the universe itself will die and nothing will ever change again.

2:56 Our videos induce existential dread in many people,

2:59 and the last few minutes probably haven't helped.

3:01 So, for once, we want to offer a different way of looking at these things:

3:05 an unscientific, subjective point of view,

3:07 the philosophy of Kurzgesagt, if you want.

3:10 Please take it with a grain of salt;

3:12 we don't know any more about human existence than you do.

3:15 We counter existential dread with optimistic nihilism.

3:19 What do we mean by that?

3:21 Well, to summarize, it seems very unlikely that 200

3:25 trillion trillion stars have been made for us.

3:28 In a way, it feels like the cruelest joke in existence has been played on us.

3:31 We became self-aware only to realize this story is not about us.

3:36 While it is great to know about electrons and the powerhouse of the cell,

3:40 Science doesn't do a lot to make this less depressing.

3:43 Okay, but so what?

3:45 You only get one shot at life, which is scary, but it also sets you free.

3:50 If the universe ends in heat death,

3:52 every humiliation you suffer in your life will be forgotten.

3:55 Every mistake you made will not matter in the end.

3:58 Every bad thing you did will be voided.

4:01 If our life is all we get to experience, then it's the only thing that matters.

4:06 If the universe has no principles,

4:08 the only principles relevant are the ones we decide on.

4:11 If the universe has no purpose, then we get to dictate what its purpose is.

4:16 Humans will most certainly cease to exist at some point,

4:20 but before we do, we get to explore ourselves and the world around us.

4:24 We get to experience feelings.

4:26 We get to experience food, books, sunrises, and being with each other.

4:30 The fact that we're even able to think

4:33 about these things is already kind of incredible.

4:35 It's easy to think of ourselves as separated from everything,

4:39 but this is not true.

4:40 We are as much the universe as a neutron star or a black hole or a nebula.

4:45 Even better, actually, we are its thinking and feeling part:

4:49 the centre organs of the universe.

4:52 We are truly free in a universe-sized playground,

4:55 so we might as well aim to be happy

4:57 and to build some kind of utopia in the stars.

5:00 It's not as if we've found out everything there is to know

5:03 We don't know why the rules of the universe are as they are,

5:06 how life came into existence, what life is.

5:09 We have no idea what consciousness is or if we are alone in the universe.

5:14 But we can try to find some answers.

5:17 There are billions of stars to visit, diseases to cure,

5:20 people to help, happy feelings to be experienced, and video games to finish.

5:25 There is so much to do.

5:28 So, wrapping up, you've probably used up

5:30 a good chunk of the time available to you.

5:32 If this is our one shot at life,

5:34 there is no reason not to have fun and live as happy as possible.

5:39 Bonus points if you made the life of other people better.

5:42 More bonus points if you help build a galactic human empire.

5:46 Do the things that make you feel good.

5:49 You get to decide whatever this means for you.