Seeing Stars

One evening I was on the sofa where I often lie when I'm tired. From this position I have a direct view through big windows and into the sky. It was a clear evening and as I lie there trying to differentiate which lights were airplanes and which were stars, I started to think about how vast the universeis and all of the cliches there are that relate to the vastness of the it. I am rather positive that a great number of people spend countless hours pondering the universe. Whenever I attempt to do so, all I usually come up with was, who the hell cares and what difference does it all make anyway. When I was a child I remember it being difficult to comprehend the fact that the sky does not end. Today there are so many things we are faced with that seem endless and inescapable that the infinity of the sky does not cross my mind anymore.

The truth of the matter is that I don't really know a great deal about the universe. As far as the planets go, the sound of Uranus just makes me laugh out loud, Venus makes me think of the Bananarama song and whereas Pluto is a dog. What difference does it make to people on earth, armed with the knowledge of all the planets lining up? To me a more important and meaningful, but less likely event would be having an intelligent comment come out of the mouth of the politicians of the world!

I started to think that I am either really shallow or incredibly cynical. Should I not be a little more concerned with the state of the universe; to try contemplate things like how to defend my belief in evolution against the claim that it violates the second law of thermodynamics instead of self aggrandizement in the fact that I know all the words to all the songs on the Austin Powers soundtrack. As I sink into my own state of mental disarray I begin thinking that perhaps evolution could be disproved. After all, when a person gets sick, usually they continue on a path of increasing physical disintegration without some sort of outside intervention, medical or otherwise. Would this not be considered a state in increasing entropy? Could this be proof that the concept of evolution is a fallacy? Unless you consider that the human being is not the center of everything and disease itself is caused by a living entity whose progression, proliferation and adaptation to its host ensures its survival.

Similarly to the universe; the number of arguments for or against the idea of evolution probably approaches infinity and trying to sort it all out is nothing short of maddening. For me, perhaps it just a waste of time and a stream of consciousness worth escaping. I doubt I could ever be convinced to think differently from what I already believe anyway. What I do know is this: you don't have to know much at all about our world and the universe to recognize that it is, and always will be, constantly changing, evolving and our continued survival is facilitated and mitigated by our ability to adapt and conform to these changes. I also believe that anyone who refuses to accept change because of religion, bigotry, hatred or whatever else will find themselves nothing more than the dust under the feet of well-heeled progressives everywhere. That being said, I have to ask, is America really a place "where the President is never black, female or gay"?