In the grand scheme of things: civilizations rise and fall. Stars will swell up large and red and then pop out of existence. In five billion years, our own star will engulf the planet. The universe is slowly, unstoppable moving towards a state of disorder, like how sandcastles slowly fade back into the sand. And this disorder means the end of life. Whatever we produce will eventually be lost or destroyed or forgotten. If we're truly a great influence in society, perhaps what you put your name to will be talked about for the next few hundred years. Hey, you might be the loudest voice of our generation, of our civilisation, or our species, but that voice will eventually be lost - as if it never existed - when the universe becomes lifeless. If a tree falls in the forest with no-one to hear it... does it make a sound?
But you argue: yes, what we produce in isolation might fade, but what about the effect it has on society from years to come? If we create the tiniest grain of innovation in our lives, we leave one more inch of foundation for people to work on in the future. We will be immortalized by being another rung in the ladder for humanity's technological ascent. We may be a tiny drop in an endless ocean... but what is an ocean, but a multitude of tiny drops?
But I retort: you're thinking too short-scale. In a few trillion years, all stars will have burnt out. Like the sandcastle, there will only be atoms floating, spaced out in the universe. All there will be are inert particles floating through the vast darkness. Ultimately, everything is destined to die.
You could see this ideology as an existential crisis. And I guess it is. But ultimately, it's a liberating concept. If we just stop from the rat race for a moment, we are able to re-frame everything we do, based on this perspective. All of a sudden, that business opportunity that you've been stressing about stops to matter so much. The pursuit of money gets put back into it's correct place. I can lose perspective and put money on a pedestal, before happiness or health. I think a lot of people can do it: working countless hours so that they are able to say that they have a bit more money. But it doesn't matter. Ultimately, none of that matters, because none of it will ever remain. Religious people will say, "you can't take your riches to the afterlife". But that's too short-term minded. Some people will say, "I can pass my wealth down to my kids", but that's too short-term minded. Those kids will have their kids will have their kids... until eventually, humanity goes extinct. It might take billions of years, but it is inevitable.
So what is the point of working hard? Why even bother? Well - now it's import to think short-term. We need to work hard so that in five, ten years, we'll be financially stable. That stability is the foundation to being able to do other things, to being happy. We might spend 30%, maybe even 60% of our time working to build that foundation, but we've got to keep perspective and think that the foundation isn't what we're working towards. What we're working towards is the grand palace we can build on top of it. And that palace is our happiness. Finding meaning and joy out of life. Even if it is just a flash in the grand scheme of things.
Knowledge is just a tool that we need to use so that we are able to be happy. We can be so fixated on learning knowledge that it becomes everything we strive for. But we need to remember that knowledge is means to an end. Yes, we can add value to society with our knowledge. We might even progress humanity forward with our knowledge: we might become the new Einstein's of our generation and create a new scientific age. We might be the best writers, artists, sports personalities or intellectuals: leaving a legacy after our death. This is invaluable to society - from a knowledge perspective. And seeing as you're adding value into society, you'll be worth something to society, which means that you'll be paid money for the work you do within society, which can act as your foundation. And then we come back to that final perspective - that foundation is there for you so you can be happy.
We need to work hard so that we can enjoy right now. Because ultimately: all that remains is right now. This moment. I can stop worrying so much about trying to be better, working to be rich or financially stable, or trying to leave a a tiny mark on this world before I pop out of existence again. I can take a deep breathe in, and re-find the beauty right in front of me.
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