Insignificant is a word given to describe that particular feeling. The word itself is irrelevant, it is merely a label for that particular feeling a sentient being can experience. This feeling could be felt by any sentient being in the universe, the label given to it by humans who speak the English language is not related to the feeling itself. In logical argument form, my belief works like this: Premise 1. We exist. Premise 2. The universe exists. Premise 3. Interactions and forces transferred throughout the universe do so by means of energy released through the movement of atomic and subatomic particles. Premise 4. Our planet and our bodies are also controlled by the movement of these particles but they move in such a way that creates consciousness. Premise 5. Something that is 'insignificant' is a thing that is very small and of little importance in relation to another thing. Premise 6. The number of particles and interactions that make up our bodies are impossibly small in relation to the universe. Premise 7. The energy and 'effort' (both mental and physical) that we release during our lifetimes is also impossibly small in relation to the universe. Premise 8. As the universe is so massive, maybe infinite, it is likely other beings as intelligent as ourselves exist. Conclusion: We are impossibly small and release a miniscule amount of energy in relation to the rest of the universe. We are also not the only sentient and thinking beings in the universe so in that respect we are not unique. For both these reasons, we are insignificant. Actually I meant "insignificant" as a term (not only as a word) doesn't exist in the universe. The feeling we have is because there is a massive amount of information out there which we haven't collected or reached yet! For example, if you would relate our significance to our own solar system, it must be a lot more than the whole universe right? But why would it be? The distance to the edge of our solar system is huge, no person would travel that distance. Yet we find it smaller because we know so much about our solar system. Now imagine in the future, if the human race can travel between many systems, even though there is such a massive amount of information, every system will feel like it's next door. Even now the internet contains more information than one man can absorb in his life, but because we can reach it, it doesn't feel 'too big' for us. Insignificance is nothing but an emotion. If the human race expands, everything comes closer. If everyone here was arguing in a formal, polite manner such as this, the thread would be fine. I accept your point but the universe really is much bigger than you or I could possibly comprehend. Humanity will never be able to cross the galaxy, let alone leave it. Consider this first, then remember that even the galaxy is impossibly small compared to the universe. The only reason we cannot recognise how tiny we are in the grand scheme of things is because we cannot comprehend the great gulfs of space that surround us. To reach the same level of knowledge we have about the solar system when it comes to the universe, we would have to study every star and every galaxy. We're talking more stars than there are bytes of data on the internet. Humanity will never, don't kid yourslef on this one, humanity WILL NEVER have the technology to comprehend our universe. Surely a significant entity in the universe would be able to understand the space it occupies? Are you really shure about that? People used to think we couldn't fly. They thought you were crazy if you even said you could go faster then the speed of sound. Ofcourse we will never understand our universe it's to large for that, but I think we can atleast travel inside the galaxy. ( Galaxy = milky way , if thats what you mean, but never around the entire universe)
