Recently asked the question, "What would you do if you knew the world was about to end?" my partner responded simply, "I'd go to sleep."

Sensible. What else could you do? Eat something? Have sex with your partner? That's if you are home, or somewhere that make those options available. But the panic that would ensue within the population that also knows the world is ending would make travel impossible. You're going to be where you are. Are you going to watch it happen? I mean, it would be an experience but experiences are made great by holding on to the memories of them. Try and survive it? And then what? Exposing yourself to the struggles and suffering that would ensue only to ultimately meet your demise anyway?

Just go to sleep and hope it ends quickly.

We all have a survival instinct. It is something built into us as part of the code of all living creatures. The main goals of life no matter how simple or complex is survive, and survive long enough to reproduce. Evolution requires it. It isn't possible without reproduction, and eventual death, but the key is to survive long enough to pass along your genetic code. But if the planet killer asteroid is heading toward your zip code, evolution is pretty much out the window, and like 65 million years ago, the Earth's slate is going to be erased, and evolution will need to begin from grass roots again.

I've had a lot of ponderings about life, and my mortality, and what all this means recently. Last night especially. The dreams were wild, as they often are these days, but in the lucid moment I thought pretty deeply about what life means.

I'll push the religion point of view out of the way first. There is nothing that says having faith in something unknown gives your life meaning, and I have never had anyone explain what a "soul" is any differently than how you would explain what your consciousness is, and when it comes down to it the concept of life after death is based on the fear of the end of your consciousness. The end of your awareness. The destruction of your memories, and the experiences that made you who you have been your whole life. So it makes sense that to those who put their faith into the unknown are doing so based on the hopes that there eventually will be a place for their consciousness to exist, and continue.

Unfortunately, death is really no different than before life. There was nothing to fear prior to life, so why fear the after?

As individuals, we're pretty insignificant in the grand scheme. Our planet is but a speck of dust to the Universe. Our lives, short and unpredictable compared to the eons that have come before us and undoubtedly will come after us. We should be striving to be something bigger, but that has to be based in a tangible reality, not mythology, or faith in the unknown. we have the opportunity as a species to be something greater than we are, but we're too controlled by those who would have us regress instead of evolve. By those who would kill over the resources of this planet which has given to all of us. By those who would kill to posses divided pieces of the land. By those who would kill to possess pieces of our fabricated economic systems. Things that in the end don't matter nearly as much as our collective evolution to something greater.

And that is what I fear. I fear we'll never learn, and the collective consciousness of who we are as a species will be lost forever.

Individually you only matter to a couple of generations before and after your life. Your grandparents might love and adore you. Your parents might love and care for you. Your peers might love and respect you. You might give rise to children whom you will love and guide to maturity. They might have children, and if you're lucky enough, you might be around long enough to see them grow and be a meaningful part of their lives. And that's about it. Rarely do we know or have significant relations with our great grandparents, and likewise, our great grandchildren. There's an outside chance those generations might know you as a person. Outside of that, you're a name. Maybe. You're someone else's memories to be relayed, maybe. You're a grave marker.

Maybe.

Maybe you're fortunate enough to be a grave marker people visit on purpose. But that too is rare.

Collectively the human species is much more than that. Evidence of our collective consciousness can be seen in the remains of structures created over many thousands of years. The science that keeps evolving, extending our lives, extending our reach into the Universe. In our art, and our music, and the things we've created for our own amusement and pleasure. The books, and writings of our libraries.  Our sport, our dance, our physical competitions. The history documented and detailed from every culture.

The very history we tend to ignore which keeps us on a tightrope of thwarting our evolution, and on the brink of destroying our own collective consciousness.

That's what I fear.

We could be so much more than this. So much better.

But I fear that asteroid will come for us long before we're ready to deal with it.