I
t's a somewhat common experience for people to consider the size and potential age of the universe, and walk away convinced that nothing we do "has any meaning". Why does this conclusion seem reasonable?
"Eventually, the sun will die and all life will perish. Even if we escape Earth, eventually the universe will run out of useable energy and enter heat death. Nothing we do matters." The implication of this statement is that we do things for the sake of some future things. In turn, those future things are for the sake of some more, even further future things. However, at the end of every possible chain of actions taken for various purposes is just the heat death of the universe, which is not something that we can act for the sake of. Note that the assumption here is that the final thing at the end of the chain is what gives the whole chain meaning, and if the end is meaningless, the whole chain is as well.
Let's consider a different universe. This universe will never die -- it will go on and on endlessly, and things will keep changing within it forever, sometimes in cycles, sometimes generating new things, sometimes staying the same for long stretches, but always eventually changing. Do our actions matter in this universe?
Let's consider another universe. This universe will also never die; however, it is destined for either perfect goodness, or complete and terrible corruption and evil. Which it ends up in is indeterminate for a long period of time, but eventually the scales will tip, based on what happens within that universe, and it become one or the other, for the rest of eternity. Do our actions matter in this universe?
Finally, let's imagine a universe which consistently defies our expectations. While we can live within it, we simply cannot make any realistic predictions about what the far future will look like. Do our actions have meaning in this universe?
I hope to remember to return to this subject.