does anyone else get freaked out that they exist?

First off I'm not a stoner or anything, but I look at APOD every day and read way too many articles on astrophysics and just generally dive into wiki entries on grand universe stuff too often. I get really freaked out when I look up at the moon or the sun and think about what that actually means. Sometimes I find it hard to accept that I even exist. I find it really difficult to find meaning in life knowing how massive and endless the universe is. We know just enough about the universe to know that we don't know shit yet. I don't claim to be smart, I'm pretty sure that I'm super dumb actually. I know god and religion is total BS, I just want to believe that we are riding the shockwave of the big bang and that once all that expanding matter has expanded as much as it can that it will collapse in on its self and start all over again. Mostly I want to believe that because I don't want to accept that all of existence is just a one off fluke and that its all gonna end some day. People die and some day the whole universe will die too.

I wouldn't put that much thought into it. There's alot of things in this world we don't understand, and we shouldn't to be honest with you.

shouldn't what? shouldn't understand? not understanding things is probably one of my biggest fears.

@devil240z: Dear Friend.. life can be pretty intimidating and the grandness of coincidences which are responsible for your very own existence are staggering. Good thing for you, one Mr. Monthy Pyton has just the right words ready to set your perspective on reality, and your place in it, right again. Enjoy:

Eh, not really. I sometimes think too hard about mine and other people's names and start laughing my ass off, though. I dunno why, I just find names hilarious.

What difference will it make if we find out about it? We can't possibly understand something that's been happening since the beginning of time, and if we do find some bizarre revelation I'm sure the media will use it to cause more fear. People will start getting more curious and more afraid about whats happening in the universe. Coming up with nothing, but insane possibility's won't put people minds at ease.

There are times when I go out at night to smoke a cigarette and look up at the night sky that I get like that. Once you start thinking about the odds of the universe making a planet that can sustain life, the chance that life actually evolves in such a way to make a being such as us, the events over the course of our history that lead to us having all that we have around us, then on top of that the odds that of the millions of sperm I was the one that made it and because of that I now exist is crazy. Then I think about how despite all of that my life just consists of sitting around playing video games, watching videos on the internet, eating junk food, and jerking off every couple days and how sad that life is and I get even more depressed then usual. Then I think about how once we die that's it. We just go to sleep and never wake up. There's not going to be a me anymore to think about anything or have an opinion about anything and how scary that is that at some point I won't exist any more. Then I start thinking about how pointless it all must be, because no matter if you are a loser like myself or a great man that changes the world the great equalizer of death will come along and no matter what we did or did not do in life we eventually all stop existing.

Then I usually take one last drag on my cigarette while looking up at the stars and say to myself "Eh. What can ya do about it?" then go back into the house and continue on with what I was doing.

Yeah thats pretty much perfect.

I just have an issue with the unknown. Its too unknowable for my tastes. Sometimes I think I should become an astrophysicist cause I have a hard time not thinking about this stuff. But I know I'm too dumb for that.

Having kids would probably change my perspective on things a bit. But I haven't had the pleasure of creating a life yet. I want to some day.

When I try to contemplate all the things that had to happen so that I could come into existence it does get a bit overwhelming. If my dad had jacked off once more or once less I wouldn't have gotten the chance to experience consciousness. If his dad or his dad jacked off even once more or less, I would never exist. Thank you, ancestors, for jacking off just the right amount so that I could be.

or that the right amount of hydrogen coalesced so that our solar system could form as it did so that one glob of matter could form this planet so that liquid water could be around to allow different molecules to interact to eventually result in life as we know it.

nope.i might think about it or talk about it with people because it is a interesting thing to talk about,but i stop talking about it or thinking about it and go play games or watch a movie.i figure all that matters is im here and i should have fun while im here.not worry about things i dont and probly will never understand.

I don't get freaked out, but I do find it interesting that you can theoretically act whatever way you want to. But you won't, because you are <insert name here>, and acting like <insert name here> is what <insert name here> does everyday when <insert name here> wakes up.

My life is a simulation, everything and everyone are all just challenges created by some smarmy ass motherfucker giggling to themselves on a space computer or something. At the end you get graded. Solid C+.

No...?

René Descartes said "Cogito ergo sum" which means "I think, therefore I am". Meaning that, life and what we see and hear might very well be an illusion, but at least we think, and that proves in and of itself that we do in fact exist. I've had the exact same thoughts as you before but this quote has helped me to at least find some footing, I think it's a great quote.

I know exactly how you feel. Sometimes I'll just be walking around and I'll see a streetlight or a tree or a cloud or something, anything, and trip the fuck out that it exists; that anything, including myself, exists. It's alright though. I kinda like it.

I think you mean meeting some chick and releasing dick butter to produce a human being.

Watch this, my friend. It'll make you feel better. Or worse. Depends on the size of your ego. :)

You're feeding your curiosity and gaining knowledge and understanding, that's pretty fun, but why would it freak you out?

None of the things you mentioned ever affected you, or ever will, in your day-to-day life, they don't threaten your well-being or anything, so what's up? It's mindblowing that you exist, a microscopic being in a seemingly endless universe, but that IMO is all it is, mindblowing, and after you have your mind blown you should continue doing what you're doing I think. Why dwell on it?

FYI denying creationism and abiding by a religion are not mutually exclusive. You can believe in evolution and the big bang, and still use the spirituality of religion to lighten up your soul, I know many people who are like this. You may not need religion, but I know literally dozens of people who feel happiness and inner peace because of the teachings of their chosen prophet. Think of religion as life lessons from wise figures.

This, on the other hand, is pretty funny.

The names, Mason, what do they mean?!

@falserelic said:

Ultimately, yes, but if before performing that act they had whacked one more or less out, the human that was produced would be different than otherwise.

I feel the way some sometimes as well duder, I live in the country and get out under the clear night sky every once and a while and think about how insane everything is, I'll get stuck in these loops of what ifs? What if the universe really is expanding? What is it expanding into? Can it really be infinite? How can something be infinite? Everything I know about on earth is finite. But if it isn't infinite, is the universe encased in something? Then what lays beyond the universe? And what lays beyond that? Is there an end? How could there be and end? And what does this mean for me? Does it mean anything? Should it mean anything. I find man made answers to religions super hard to swallow and that bums be out because sometimes I would like to believe that it's possible for something to be out there that is more then human, some sort of entity that has powers beyond my understanding, but if it does exist did something make it? And if so what made the thing that made it? And so on and so forth. How can something just... exist, because at some point that's how things may have had to have been, the universe or the thing the universe is inside or the thing that thing is inside would have had to have get started somehow so far we have the big bang theory to go off of, but what was there before the big bang? How can something can from nothing? I'm pretty sure a song told me that was impossible once and oh, oh my, to much thinking, have to go read some Douglas Adams now.

But anyways, duder and this goes for anyone asking themselves questions about the life, the universe, themselves, who, what, where, when, and why.
You are NOT DUMB.
You really aren't. I'm really not just saying that. You are not dumb, you know what dumb people do? They just accept the first thing that is told to them and move on, you're questioning things! You're looking in at yourself and out at the world and the universe and you're using your inquisitive mind to go "What the fuck? No seriously, what the fuck?" Dumb people don't do that. You might not be knowledgeable about certain things, you might not be a scientist who has put their time and effort into figuring out their area of research, true, but that does not make you dumb.
If you are putting any amount of thought into who you are, or why you are, you are already doing a lot better then a lot of other people on this planet, even if you never come up with the answer.

Picture a hot dog bun and throw all the stars, the hundreds of stars that there are in the universe, into a bag, and put the universe into a bag, and all of a sudden they become... um...

@shagge: a blueberry pie it has to be.dont tell me anything different because I KNOW it turns into a pie somehow.

Giantbomb: Your #1 source for all discussions of metaphysics.

Just think it like this ... it is so easy to die that it is fucking awesome that you are able to see another day , that even if there is a lot of crap in the world humanity has created some amazing stuff , that we are able (even if limited) to understand some of the complexities of the universe ....well thats the strength of gods if you ask me :D

Sometimes I look at a pepperoni and I'm like how are you this.

I am regularly amazed that I have managed to live 22 years without contracting a terminal illness or getting hit by a speeding vehicle.

No matter how small or insignificant you seem when you look out into the night sky, you are still a part of this creation. Weaved together into existence by the same force and the same materials as the stars that make you feel so tiny - hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, sodium... the list goes on.

You may be tiny, but you've got a powerful spirit, and the mind to make use of it. That star that's making you feel so insignificant may have been a floating rock in space, with no story to tell for millions of years. Your story, while small in comparison, has done infinitely more than a majority of those stars to bring light and love to others. A contribution more worthy - but just as important - as the lifeless rock a million years away illuminating a lifeless solar system.

Sorry if that's a little floaty and spiritual for some tastes, but that's my take on the Universe.

In any case: keep questioning. Keep seeking those answers. As stated earlier in the thread, a dumb person just accepts the first answer and moves on. The smarter person will look stupid more often, because they're not satisfied with the widely accepted truth. That's the only way you can find the actual truth, is by always questioning what's possible.

No, but I am fascinated by it at times. An exploding star paved the way for the planet, and then us.

We are from a fucking star that exploded. Or at least from one that shat out a lot of dust and stuff.

I'm a poet with words here.

For millions of years, since the outset of time, every single one of your ancestors survived. Every single person on your Mum's and Dad's side successfully looked after and passed onto you life.

What are the chances of that like?

I am not shocked that I exist. I am not surprised that I'm still alive. I am confused by how I can think at all. Existence is the default position in the universe; consciousness is not.

-Edit- I should clarify that when I say "Universe" I am referring to the "Observable Universe", I forgot that many people don't identify the difference automatically. In the overall Universe (the one further than that which we can observe/interact with) the default position may be nonexistence, but in the observable universe, by definition, it is existence.

You exist. How could you doubt your own existence if you didn't?

Don't let it freak you out. Contrary to what school systems tell you, "I don't know" is a legitimate answer to just about anything. Especially the cosmic "why?"

When I was a child, they thought there were nine planets. Now, there are ninety planets.

There have been times where I would look in the mirror for slightly too long and just completely freak out.

Oddly enough, that was something I was going to say. More context for that quote is that Descartes decided he needed to doubt everything, but realised that the one thing he couldn't doubt was that he was doubting (which means he was thinking, and so cogito ergo sum).

@devil240z:

I feel like you're on track not to be an astrophysicist, but the next great crazy modern philosopher or something. Pull a Nietzsche or something and shape the thought of mankind for the next 200 years.

On the positive side it's better for you to wonder about the meaning of the sun and moon, and question your existence. Philosophy begins with wonder, wonder at the universe around them. It's much more interesting and open-minded to look into the meaning of things than to say "well we have empirical evidence that such and such is so, but that's about it."

I'm a Philosophy major about to graduate :P

I find it comforting sometimes when I realize how little my problems matter in the grand scheme of things. We can never know everything about the universe, but it's fun to imagine what's out there.

Indeed..like, who is this person?

Otherwise, it's a good thing to think beyond ourselves and ponder the questions of the universe.

@devil240z:

Of course. I just had an existential crisis the other day. I was walking around, and the idea that the only reason I'm alive is because people REALLY like to fuck. I started thinking about genetics and how far back my phenotype traits come from. Wondering who my ancestors really were and how they lived their lives. I was completely sober (I smoked pot once 5 years ago), so like you, these aren't stoner ideas.

You say religion is BS but also want there to be a deeper meaning to your life. Can't have it both ways.

@devil240z: Yes, I absolutely feel this way sometimes. There's nothing wrong with thinking about this stuff once in a while either. I think it's pretty healthy to contemplate existence every once in a while.

I get freaked out when i see a really old/ancient building and i think about the people that lived before me. All of them had their share of time on this earth and left a small trace behind them. All of them just like me. Thinking like me, behaving like me, wishing for the same things from life.

Not to go into too much detail, but last year, my best friend and I experienced somethings that have forever altered our perspective on our existence, life after death, and how we even perceive reality on this earthly plane. Our existence is truly a miracle. Nothing at all to be freaked out about, but perhaps marveled at. We try to come up with so many rationalizations for things, because what really is, is truly beyond our human perspective. As others have stated, it's great you've even putting energy towards this type of thinking. Give yourself some more credit dude! Don't ever stop questioning, wondering, imagining. It's so easy to be comfortable with "there's nothing special going on" or "there is no God/gods". Not saying it's not ok to have your own conclusions/opinions. Where those opinions stem from is what's important I believe. From birth we are programmed into a society with massive egos. IMO staving the ego is the best thing anybody could do for themselves.

I'll expound a bit more on what I said although I usually don't engage in these conversations. I find discussions on philosophy and metaphysics very tiresome. Basically, you are not the first person to think these things; the Greeks recorded their thoughts on the matter over 2000 years ago and humanity has surely contemplated the meaning of life long before that. Some might say you are having an existential moment. They are wrong. The point of existentialism is not in the "oh no I'm forever alone life is pointless" phase, but in the realization that you must rely on yourself. If you want your life to have meaning you gotta go out and create that meaning for yourself. No one else can do that for you. I don't agree with all of it but personally I find this aspect of existentialism to be a profoundly empowering and optimistic philosophy.

Sorry for format I'm on my phone.

Yes it is hard work being me!

How has that Dave Lang video not been posted in this thread by now?

Some of you maybe got the wrong idea about my state of mind. I'm NOT scared or depressed about this stuff. I just meant that every time I try to get a better grasp on the nature of the universe I get that much more confused about it.

I'm not looking for a deeper meaning in life. Just a better understanding of the nature of the universe.

I wish I could spend an afternoon with Neil DeGrasse Tyson or someone and just have them drop universe knowledge bombs on me for a few hours.

Some people have said to not think about it but for me I actually find more purpose the more I learn. Knowledge is bliss, ignorance is just ignorance.

Yes. It's terrifying. The whole business is fucked. I cannot help but think that our species and our so very vaunted intelligence makes absolutely no difference to anything going on whatsoever.

Yes it frightens me. Yes it depresses me. No it doesn't make me want to latch on to a religion like a nice puffy lactating nipple.