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[–]jefro2293 46 points47 points ago

felt the same way when i first saw this, then i stumbled across this guy http://i.imgur.com/OecJJ.jpg

[–][deleted] 8 points9 points ago

I just find the second one as a way of sugarcoating it. Oh, the 7x1027 atoms in my body are arranged differently than anything else? How surprising. But on a grand scale of things, nothing I do in my life will affect anything outside of the solar system, probably even the earth. I will be forgotten by mankind, as will most people. I don't call that significant. I don't like the original or this one.

I like OP's.

[–]LoneRanger21 3 points4 points ago

Agreed. Its awesome to think about the fact that the heavy elements in our bodies were born in the furnaces of stars which exploded, but I don't see any significance in it.

Also, snowflakes are unique, but I certainly wouldn't say each snowflake is significant.

[–]Confusedandlost123 1 point2 points ago

"We ourselves are made of Stardust." - Carl Sagan

[–]BreSput 2 points3 points ago

Do we care about the grand scale of things? Have you ever in your life made a choice based on how it will fare in the great scale of things? Where does importance lie? Certainly it's within persons on this planet, and things which we can't quantify, but that while being immediately concrete are bigger than something like a huge space rock or collection of nuclear dust or even a particular arrangement of atoms. These aren't what make things important because they are arbitrary as you rightly observe.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago*

My point was that it's useless to call things "significant" or "insignificant," because it's subjective. And an abstract opinion at that. Does "significance" come from being big in the universe? Does it come from changes we make in the universe? Or is it just whether or not something betters mankind? That's why I like neither the top or bottom one.

edit weather to whether

[–]BreSput 0 points1 point ago

What do you mean by subjective?

[–]IzziTheEpic 1 point2 points ago

I think he means that the word "significance" can be used interchangeably based on your outlook on life.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points ago

Yep. If you have a mindset fixed on what happens here on earth and you define significance by what happens here, you'd agree that George Washington was significant. A different person who has his mind fixed on the universe, they'd say George Washington was extremely insignificant.

On a separate note, if we were to agree with the second infograph (the white one), then everything above the atomic level is significant. Surely not everything is significant, else significance loses its meaning altogether.

[–]Bitrandombit 1 point2 points ago

I would love to be able to get the lighter lower portion blown up some, like to desktop size. Alas I can barely run MS paint.

[–]boka_janata_party 0 points1 point ago

This is like reversing a gif and completely turning the meaning around.

[–]Deluxx00 0 points1 point ago

There was a video about how you're always at the center of the universe or the like

[–]Brykly 0 points1 point ago

/r/atheism needs more posts like these.

[–]it_wasnt_me_ -1 points0 points ago

first thing i though as well. brave sir. have an upvote.

[–]iAmTheCrazyToaster 14 points15 points ago

sigh remember when there were 9 planets?

[–]T3mpy 1 point2 points ago

i was like wait there are 9 planets.... oh... Okay i'm old ;_;

[–]medlish 0 points1 point ago

Don't forget our dwarf planets. And the other small objects.

[–]Abedeus 0 points1 point ago

Those were better times.

On the other hand, a shitload of astrologists discovered their hocus pocus is worth jack shit.

[–]_Seaker_ 0 points1 point ago

This was the first thing I thought. I know its kinda backwards and all, but I miss pluto being a planet. Makes you wonder if people missed the earth being flat when they accepted that it wasn't.

[–]tallanvor 1 point2 points ago

Pluto will always be a planet for me! :)

[–]_Seaker_ 0 points1 point ago

and the earth always flat!

[–]tallanvor 1 point2 points ago

So long as I'm always the center of attention Earth can be whatever shape it wants!

Oh, wait...

[–]3LollipopZ-1Red2Blue 0 points1 point ago

or that jesus wasn't the son of god? wait a sec... that was our planet.

[–]triplaur 12 points13 points ago

I like this one better than the "you are insignificant" one because everything has an impact on the universe no matter how small <3

[–]zynna-lynn[S] 5 points6 points ago

And being positive is better than being dismissive.

[–]science_diction 0 points1 point ago

Oh look, the Nazis are gonig to give us a shower! YAY!

Being REALISTIC is superior to all other viewpoints.

[–]zynna-lynn[S] 0 points1 point ago

I am pretty sure both statements are realistic. It is realistic both that you are insignificant in the scale of the universe AND that you are a part of the universe, which some people may consider sort of cool/awesome.

[–]Numb1 3 points4 points ago

But we really are pointless. I can't escape the fact that even 10yrs after my death nothing i did will really matter.

I don't see the point in all of it so why not cut out the middle bit and simply go into obscurity where i will be forever anyway?

[–]ninjapro 12 points13 points ago

Okay. I have to get the depressing part out of the way first. Achievement and meaning are subjective. Nobody has ever done anything significant for even a moment in relation to the solar system, much less the universe.

If your life matters to someone, including yourself, the you are significant. It makes a world of difference. And there is always someone who cares.

[–]Abedeus 1 point2 points ago

I think the person that will invent the bomb that will blow up the Sun will do something significant in relation to the solar system.

[–]theislandking 2 points3 points ago

It's still a nice thought worth having. I mean, you can take that fact any which way, but it really wouldn't hurt to take it positively.

So, you're small and insignificant and 10 years after you die, nothing you do will ever really matter. What then?

So, go have a good fucking life, brother. This is it, this is the best it's going to get. How fucking awesome it is to be alive.

[–]dr_funkenberry 3 points4 points ago

you must be fun at parties

[–]Numb1 0 points1 point ago

HA I KNOW!

I think that's why everyone ditched me on my birthday, i mean who the fuck wants to be around the sad fuck?

[–]Kaelidoz 0 points1 point ago

[–]Numb1 0 points1 point ago

I just feel so tired now though.

[–]Kaelidoz 0 points1 point ago

Happy birthday

[–]sloggo 0 points1 point ago

I think you're right, but I don't really look at it as a negative, personally. Once you accept we're all equally insignificant in the much bigger picture, then you can only be distinguishably significant when compared to those around you.

Maybe this is stupid but it's kind of how I look at things: In the sense that you're able to use the word "I", The "middle bit" is actually the only bit, so maybe its not as much about the biggest possible picture you can imagine as it is about you and your immediate surrounds. Your significance is from the role you play in making your own, and everyone around you's, "bit" comfortable and enjoyable.

tl;dr: don't judge your significance on the scale of the universe, judge it on a human scale.

[–]boka_janata_party 0 points1 point ago

If you feel like whatever you do will amount to nothing, you are not noticing your actions because it is impossible to be an inactive spectator in life. When you take do something, voluntary or involuntary, you are changing the success/failure probability of another event that might follow.

Next time you conduct anything, just take a time out and observe and ask yourself, how is the system any different than without me in in [insert # of seconds] ago. You will notice that you just changed something, a state, of a situation, place, or object. That is your contribution to entropy.

Now whether it is significant to you or not, is a problem with your ego, and only you can master it. No one can help you realize anything without your active involvement.

Also, no one can hurt you without your permission. ~Gandhi.

[–]aposter 0 points1 point ago

Well, everything is pointless when you take the really long view. Nothing impressive or special about stars or galaxies. There are ~6,000,000,000 humans in the universe. There are ~9,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars. Humans are a much rarer phenomenon than stars. Besides in a few short millions of trillions years the last proton will decay and the last black hole will evaporate and there will be nothing but a smooth smear of energy spread across an ever expanding universe. But, while I'm here I'm going to enjoy it. As the saying goes... Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.

[–]BreSput 0 points1 point ago*

10 years after my death things will still matter. I'll still have helped my parents when they were old, I still will have loved all the people I loved, I still will have enriched the lives of those around me, I still will have brought joy, and so on. If these things don't matter, then why does the 10 year figure mean anything? If those things don't matter then they don't matter now. But they do matter now. Clearly they do.

EDIT to anticipate replies:

I think in the atheist community on reddit and elsewhere there is a fundamentally theistic move going on, which is that things can only matter if there is someone to which they actively matter. We posit god because in order for us to matter after we die, we need to posit a being with infinite cognitive power that exists indefinitely. But we don't. Things can matter regardless of anyone finding them important. Mattering is in the matter so to speak.

Just consult your intuitions. Think about something simple even, like doing a homework project. Sometimes the crucial piece of information is in a place you didn't think to look. That piece mattered, and it mattered before you looked there. It just did, regardless of whether you ever found it.

[–]science_diction 0 points1 point ago

Your definition of pointless requires an outside perspective in order to value your life. Your existence is obviously not pointless to you. Isn't that enough? Why do you need a galactic purpose or some knowledge of immortality?

[–]Numb1 1 point2 points ago

I don't think i said i need any of that. Simply that right now i kind of view the whole idea of living pointless.

[–]ShockedSystem 0 points1 point ago

My plan is to destroy something beautiful in my old age, gain immortality through infamy.

[–][deleted] -1 points0 points ago

because everything has an impact on the universe no matter how small

That's why the theists think they're special. That their god picked this one little blue dot for singular attention. Not only that, but one little tribe of semi-nomadic sheep-shaggers from the arsehole of nowhere were somehow 'chosen'. Even then, he seemingly STILL played favourites.

Insisting that we're somehow 'special' to the Universe is what caused all this god crap in the first place. Stop pandering to it.

[–]thisgoesnowhere 1 point2 points ago

I really hate when people pussyfoot around this topic. We are meaningless creatures who have delusions of grandeur; get over it.

[–]GoldXP 2 points3 points ago

Can anyone link me to the original image, please?

[–]stalka 4 points5 points ago

[–]BoroPaul 0 points1 point ago

It's not the original if it is on Imgur!? Where did it come from?

[–]StarkPR 2 points3 points ago

[–]BackToTheBasic 1 point2 points ago

"When I meet you, I see not just what you define yourself as--Mr so-and- so, Ms so-and-so, Mrs so-and-so--I see every one of you as the primordial energy of the universe coming on at me in this particular way." -Alan Watts

[–]saveatreeburnbibles 1 point2 points ago

Those are possibly very conservative numbers in regards to galaxies and stars. There could be a trillion galaxies and some galaxies can have several hundred billion stars. Although, I guess a good average would be 100 billion stars per galaxy.

Fucking mind boggling.

But only people are special (goddamn I hate ppl in general) :| Everything is special. Stupid humans.

[–]king_of_the_universe 1 point2 points ago

Both submissions had been made, in this order and fashion, a year ago. I don't know whether to feel old or rejuvenated.

[–]Writes_Bad_Limericks 1 point2 points ago

Wow... This is a lot less depressing than how I thought about it before.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

I made it so small, but people still remove my logo from it :(

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

9 planets. Fuck you.

[–]spock_block 2 points3 points ago

8 planets?

The place where I live has 9. Never forget.

[–]DMTbomb1984 1 point2 points ago

Fucking coooooool!

[–]Gillbreather 1 point2 points ago

Ramen!

[–]AaronHolland44 0 points1 point ago

Right you are Ken.

[–]codygraham122 0 points1 point ago

I have learned that simply being a witness to amazing things is good enough for me. I realize I am a very small part of something much bigger and want to learn everything I can.

[–]Logophagi 0 points1 point ago

continent, planet, solar system, bubble, galaxy, cluster, filament

The known Universe is mastadonic at 14 gigaparsecs.

[–]Bitrandombit 1 point2 points ago

Mastodons are cool.

[–]Plokhi 0 points1 point ago

Speck on a speck orbiting a speck inside a speck in the vast nothingness of space. That is aware of it. I love it. :) (props to Bill Nye)

[–]hitachiginseng 0 points1 point ago

Did they spell billion correctly..?

[–]troopacoopa 0 points1 point ago

This is what I tell people every time they ask if there is other life in the universe. I find it difficult to believe that there isn't.

[–]theislandking 0 points1 point ago

Reminds me of this line at the end of At the Bottom of Everything, where Conor goes "Oh my morning's coming back, the whole world's waking up. All the city buses swimming past, I'm happy just because I found out I am really no one."

It took me years to appreciate the possibilities of being no one.

[–]rkid1296 0 points1 point ago

What if you're part of a religion? Lol :D

[–]Bulknowt 0 points1 point ago

Lol, yeah that red text at the end really changed my life. To think I'm part of something "awesome!" I can see people reading this and then charging from their homes giving people hearty thumbs up and guffaws of contemplation.

Way to belittle profound statements with a sophomoric and idiotic conclusion...

[–]wasniahC 0 points1 point ago

8 planets. Still feels wierd seeing it. This isn't the solar system I grew up with ಠ_ಠ

[–]Toriankel 0 points1 point ago

As good as the pic is, the last sentence is false. We are nothing, just a mere smuggering detail in the universe, and our acts count for nothing, exept, for a very very small part, for the demise of planet earth.

[–]caughtoffside 0 points1 point ago

May imply that you're insignificant, but also implies that your problems, worries and mistakes are insignificant too.

http://conservationreport.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/earth_.jpg

[–]RAAWBERRY 0 points1 point ago

I'm not sure, but didn't Lawrence Krauss said something about 400 billion galaxies? It's not this important for the message of the pic, i know...

[–]special_words 0 points1 point ago

I like to think I'm a pessimistic optimist. When I read that pic, the last part for me reads, "and you are not fucking special". Once I got over all that Mr. Rogers self esteem crap my life became significantly better. It is pretty awesome and freeing not having the pressure of being "special".

[–]lebonita 0 points1 point ago

favorite !

[–]chained_la 0 points1 point ago

I said this in a speech where I was convincing people that other life exists. Didn't realize a picture was around, but sweet!

[–]greggsy 0 points1 point ago

you misspelled 'insignificant'

[–]Moooza 0 points1 point ago

It's 'insignificunt'

[–]Gravyness 0 points1 point ago

Naah, You're just a piece of matter >:)

[–]Amerikai 0 points1 point ago

I cannot stand this sense of self-importance. History will forget nearly everyone here, we will all die and eventually be forgotten. None of any of our achievements will amount to anything in 1000 years. :)

[–]Faithii 0 points1 point ago

Oh wonderful.. I'm different. How the fuck is that considered so great? If I died right here, right now. Would the universe stop and look at me or would it just keep on rolling. We are nothing in this universe.

[–]ataripixel 0 points1 point ago

makes me wish i could up vote more than once

[–]conrad612 0 points1 point ago

I prefer the original version.

[–]argrig 0 points1 point ago

Strange, but the message I get from this is the opposite of what is intended. "You are insignificant. You don't matter. There are billions of you. Your experience is reproducible."

It seems like these posters are produced out of pure unreflected infatuation with life, or - worse - out of compensation, reaction formation.

[–]brnldz 0 points1 point ago

Or show this: link

Makes me feel really small

[–]f3tch 0 points1 point ago

[–]damcautomatic 0 points1 point ago

The angle of the orbits ::shudder::

[–]TwistedD85 0 points1 point ago

"Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return. And we can. Because the cosmos is also within us. We're made of star-stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."

Probably one of my favorites quotes from Cosmos. No matter how small I feel it makes feel good about being that tiny little part of something so much bigger than myself.

[–]dannyboylee 0 points1 point ago

I like that the arrows pointing to and from the Earth are little laurels. Makes it look reminiscent of the United Federation of Planets emblem.

[–]science_diction 0 points1 point ago

Awesome implies unviersal value, meaning, and intent. The only thing awesome is the being capable of percieving it as such, which is you.

[–]protocos 0 points1 point ago

Anyone of any belief could say the same.

[–]Zelcron 0 points1 point ago

The most recent estimation for the number of stars in the universe I've read was 160,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. If that looks like a big number it is. Think about it.

[–]BoroPaul 0 points1 point ago

So this guy claims the pic is his (as do other people on devianart - don't you just love the internet!) but doesn't have the other picture. Who really made this and where can I get a hires version?

[–]boregensen 0 points1 point ago

...out of multiple universes?

[–]Regidor231 0 points1 point ago

Some AWESOME* people

[–]Shikami42 -1 points0 points ago

Appart from the fact that the message is contradictory, well .

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]Shikami42 1 point2 points ago

Well if you just start by telling people how irrelevant and tiny they are being part of something awesome just rings a little hollow.

I would rather say something

VY Canis Majoris 2100 Solar Masses...still burning hydrogen to helium

Me...drew a stick figure today

[–][deleted] ago*

[deleted]

[–]Shikami42 1 point2 points ago

I can see the universe being awesome.

I can see myself being awesome.

I cannot see myself being awesome in context to the universe at all.

My awesomeness derives from a different qualities, the ability to draw stick figures and make my girl smile.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]Shikami42 0 points1 point ago

Well thinking about the universe for me its

And crawling, on the planet's face, some insects, called the human race. Lost in time, and lost in space... and meaning.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]science_diction 0 points1 point ago

Really? Fuse hydrogen into heavier elements.

I'm waiting.

[–]Iannic -1 points0 points ago

YEAHHHHH!

[–]ripples2288 -1 points0 points ago

Good fix, I almost did it myself.