The Anthropic Principle

 Marcus Meredith

December 31, 2023

The Anthropic Principle

“I am Alive… I exist…”

Let me begin a positive essay on a bit of a snarling note… you Existentialist philosophers and writers are a pack of whining bitches who need a good slap in the face to wake you up to reality. “What is that?” you might say. “But the Existentialists are all about reality!” you righteously retort. No… no… no, they decidedly are not. Let me apply the Anthropic Principle in my own manner and my own fashion and you’ll see they make a very fundamental error which they have foisted upon the world with their writings, essays, and plays and on this New Year’s Eve I am here to set things straight. Let’s begin…

Firstly, I am not going to use the “dictionary definition” of the Anthropic Principle because I find it to stilted and almost antiseptic. Instead I am going to demonstrate the Anthropic Principle so that you too can experience the life affirming spirit of that moment of realization that comes with reading it, seeing it, feeling it in you bones and literally saying, “Oh… Ah! That’s what it is to be alive…” So, instead of the Existentialist question of “Why do I exist? What is my purpose in Life?” we start with the question turned on its head. Stop. Don’t begin your search for meaning by asking the question, but begin with a simple, straight-forward fact: You exist! You are! You are alive!

This is where the Anthropic Principle begins and it brings with it some revelatory insights. Because, if we start as this Principle would have us, then everything else is possible. You see, there are some facts that substantiate and reinforce this particular P.O.V. that are very important and being a scientist by training they are more privy to my life than the average person. Consider on the one hand how many possible combinations of DNA could come together to make a person. When you do the math, the answer is a 1 followed by 30 zeros! I don’t even know the name of that number (we can call it a million-trillion-trillion if you like). But it’s more that all the stars in the Universe! Pause for a moment and really ponder that number. The chances of you existing are less than a 1 compared to all the stars in the Universe. It’s dumbfounding… And yet… here… you… are. The Universe, by the chances inherent in all the Laws of Nature, made you. How astoundingly fortunate you are. Most of the possible chances for a human being to exist will never come to fruition, never be expressed… but you were (insert smiley face emoji if you will). You SHOULDN’T, but here you are. Wow… focus on that for a good moment. 

The second fact to make you feel special, and you are special, comes to use when we ask, “Well, how many people like me have ever existed?” Now by that question, scientists usually mean Homo sapiens in the “modern” looking way of shave a caveman, clean him up, and put him in a business suit and he’d fit in on Wall Street at least by appearance alone. Okay, so far so good. So, how many people? Roughly 100 Billion at present estimates, and there are about 8 Billion people on Earth today. Think on this some more… think on the generations of people, living, making families, building tribes and societies, fighting for survival that had to lead eventually to you. Upon deep reflection, it’s almost staggering the series of events that had to happen to allow you to exist… And yet, here… you… are. You are the end result of the Universe working its way through 14 Billion years of evolution and producing this one, singular, unique, never-to-be-made-again in the whole history of the Universe before or to come human being… Yes, Victoria, you are very special.  This is the powerful viewpoint that comes from the Anthropic Principle.

But I am a realist who writes this blog and these essays. I don’t shy away from what reality has to tell us. Our lives are short, relatively speaking, to that of the Earth much less the entire Universe. We are like sparks of life that the Universe has hammered into existence from the stuff of matter and we shine brilliantly and glitteringly for the briefest of moments like the sparks from a fireworks display that we “ooh” and “ah” at before it burns out and is gone, leaving impressions on our eyes, minds, and living experiences. We will never exist again… ever. Consider this as a way of realizing just how special you and I are. There are more stars in the Universe than there are grains of sand on all the beaches of all the world combined. But you are made of more atoms than all the stars in the Universe! And THAT particular combination of atoms will never happen anywhere in the Universe again… ever.  Extraordinary…

So, to put the Existentialist angst peddlers in their places, let’s ask the associated question to “What is my purpose in life?” and ask instead, “What do you want it to be?” What are you willing to do, willing to strive for, going to fight for, or wish to be remembered for? What do you want to do before the end? The end is more inevitable than you being here so what will you do with this existence that the Universe has gifted you with? What good will come from your combination of atoms in this place at this moment in time? You could focus on just our problems, but they’ll be here only because you are. You only have them because you exist. All those who never existed or who are long gone don’t have them to worry about… they don’t exist, but you do. You can search book after book, ask teacher after teacher, but your path to discovery is up to you before you reach the oblivion that is waiting for all of us. So, wake everyday, with affirmation and gratitude, and breath deeply, saying audibly or not, “I am alive… I exist… I am grateful. Now, everything is possible. Thank you, Universe.” And so Happy New Year! You have a New Year filled with possibilities because you exist.