Wednesday 11 January 2012

Everything is Nothing

De sterrennacht
Vincent van Gogh

A butterfly may live only a couple of days, a tiny fraction of our own lives, but in its world this might feel like a lifetime. Compare that with the lifespan of the universe: billions upon billions of years making up the seemingly endless stretch of time. Suddenly the lifespan of our own, even though so vastly superior to that of a butterfly doesn’t seem much at all anymore. On the contrary, the cherished time of our lives appears diminished to a flicker of a candle flame viewed from far, far away. A flame that ceases to exist the very same moment it comes into being.

Viewed from a perspective large enough, could it be then that the lifespan of the entire universe itself, with all its vastness and eternity of time, become the same infinitely short flash of light as that of our own life? Could it be that the universe was galloping towards its ultimate fate at an infinite pace and it was only our minute perspective that made this brisk charge seem so infinitely long? Like the star which appears to beautifully light up the sky on a starry night but in reality has long since perished in its own vacuum — it is yet it is not. Could it be that the infinity of the universe was a mirage too, given form only by our own perception, such that the moment our eyes close for the final time, the very same moment it ceases to exist as well? Omnia nihil est?

MORE READING: Infinity redefined