universe Archives

The Animation That Changed My Life

An animated video that I believe enhanced my life would be one that I found on YouTube from the American Museum of Natural History when I was younger where the camera is focused on Earth, but then zooms all the way out to the edge of the observable universe. I was completely blown away by this! I was absolutely fascinated.

I grew up going to church on and off with my parents. I can’t say I was as devout as others, but I believed that there was a God who was watching and listening to us. As I became older, I started to question that more. I started to wonder why there wasn’t any physical proof of something that so many people were convinced existed. After watching this video, it really made me wonder. It made me realize just how insignificant we really are in the grand scheme of things. Our planet is essentially a speck of dust in an overwhelmingly vast sea of nothingness, yet some of us claim that it was all designed and built around us, for us, by some divine being. There are billions of other galaxies out there. Each one of those galaxies contains billions of different stars, which can all have their own solar system and planets.

Watching this animation got me interested in science and space. I then discovered people like Richard Dawkins, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Lawrence Krauss, Christopher Hitchins, and Sam Harris. Today, I fully identify as an athiest. I strongly believe that religion and deities are things that humanity has fabricated ourselves due to the inability to go through life not knowing why we are here or where we go afterwards .I have a different line of thinking. I think as a species, we naturally tend to think too much of ourselves. We cannot imagine our existence without there being some meaningful purpose or reason for it. I can imagine that. I also don’t have a problem with it. I am perfectly okay with all of this happening by some random chance and just making the best of it while I’m here on this planet. I don’t need to believe in a magical being or a place in the afterlife in order to have a moral code and behave while I am alive.

When it comes down to it, I am glad that I have the views I have today. They are liberating. It’s quite possible that I wouldn’t have the views I have today if I hadn’t have watched the aforementioned animation.

I took it upon myself to watch the short video, “Hyperland”, featuring Douglas Adams, the author of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. I found it very interesting, not only because of the information it provided, but because of how the video was filmed. The video was filmed in a way that replicated a person’s experience when using a personal computer. It also kind of had a H2G2 vibe going on there. It was at this point that I realized that Douglas Adams was very big on futuristic technology and science-fiction. I also found it interesting how the operating system of this hypothetical computer that Adams was using was represented by a person who appeared to be a butler.

The video really showcased the internet and all of it’s potential. They delved into history, art, science, and technology. I found the history aspect of it to be very intriguing. The internet is an overabundance of information, if you think about it. It helps us gain a deeper understanding of life, the universe, and everything. It assists us in our endless pursuit of knowledge, just like the H2G2 book and super computer in the H2G2 book, but in a way more helpful way.