RoTM 1.82.1i -- Alone in the universe
If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little. -- George Carlin
It's not true. I can tell you that, sure as anything, and I have to say that I mean both parts. We are not alone, and the universe did not aim low or settle. If I learned one thing traveling with him, that has to be part of the larger lesson. Even with how it all ends and the levels I saw we could sink to, I could see more as well. The human spirit that keeps on fighting, no matter what. Even with what they--we--become, it was out of an effort to survive that got all twisted by a madman.
I saw little boys fighting animated men of straw and refusing to back down. Those same boys went off to fight and die in trenches far from home to protect some ideal, and even the boys fighting on the other side...maybe it is all useless, the wars we fight, when I know how all those boundaries will cease to matter, but it's the fight itself that you have to see. The will to draw lines and stand for things.
And with the will comes the curiosity. The need to see, to explore, to embrace change, to look at the stars and dream, and one day we'll find ourselves out in them, finding other species, merging with them, creating whole new civilizations, just as we've done here on Earth. Sometimes it's not always right. In fact, a lot of times we aren't. But just because we can be wrong, doesn't mean that there's nothing there worth celebrating. We do tend to learn from our mistakes, eventually. We do pull together when times are truly rough. And I've seen those lines that we draw on our own planet disappear when we're faced with something more. When faced with human extinction, I've seen how we can band together and believe, willing our own survival with just words.
The universe didn't aim low with us. It didn't fail. We're nowhere near perfect, but neither is any other species I met. We're brilliant, in our own way. We've passion and belief and cruelty and kindness and hunger for experience to match anyone in the universe. And all of that adds up to something pretty good, no matter how it all ends.
It's not true. I can tell you that, sure as anything, and I have to say that I mean both parts. We are not alone, and the universe did not aim low or settle. If I learned one thing traveling with him, that has to be part of the larger lesson. Even with how it all ends and the levels I saw we could sink to, I could see more as well. The human spirit that keeps on fighting, no matter what. Even with what they--we--become, it was out of an effort to survive that got all twisted by a madman.
I saw little boys fighting animated men of straw and refusing to back down. Those same boys went off to fight and die in trenches far from home to protect some ideal, and even the boys fighting on the other side...maybe it is all useless, the wars we fight, when I know how all those boundaries will cease to matter, but it's the fight itself that you have to see. The will to draw lines and stand for things.
And with the will comes the curiosity. The need to see, to explore, to embrace change, to look at the stars and dream, and one day we'll find ourselves out in them, finding other species, merging with them, creating whole new civilizations, just as we've done here on Earth. Sometimes it's not always right. In fact, a lot of times we aren't. But just because we can be wrong, doesn't mean that there's nothing there worth celebrating. We do tend to learn from our mistakes, eventually. We do pull together when times are truly rough. And I've seen those lines that we draw on our own planet disappear when we're faced with something more. When faced with human extinction, I've seen how we can band together and believe, willing our own survival with just words.
The universe didn't aim low with us. It didn't fail. We're nowhere near perfect, but neither is any other species I met. We're brilliant, in our own way. We've passion and belief and cruelty and kindness and hunger for experience to match anyone in the universe. And all of that adds up to something pretty good, no matter how it all ends.