Overwhelming feeling of insignificance in the universe.
Right. I'm just wondering if there's a name for this state of mind and if any of you ever feel it.
It's usually triggered by something bad happening in my life, or if I'm generally in a sad mood. I go to my room and listen to music and then get this heart-wrenching feeling where I realise the world for what it is kind of thing...
It's like all the pain I've ever felt merged into one horrible/amazing/awe-inspiring feeling! I wonder if it's this feeling that convinces Christians that God exists... I can imagine them interpretting it as the pain Jesus felt or whatever.
Anyway, the feeling involves happiness/sadness/crying. Whatever objects are near me I see super close-up like I'm seeing them under a magnifying glass and I realise how crazy it is that the world is the way it is. And then I look out at the horizon and even if it's the most miserable day and the sky is grey I find it so achingly beautiful!
And then I get a sense of the whole sky pressing down like a weight on me, and I am just a tiny insignificant person...
I've had it many times and I'm sure it's normal (I am not crazy by the way!) but no one ever talks about it. It's like a taboo topic. I might bring it up with my closest friend but I'm even worried she might not no what I'm talking about and think I'm insane!
Anyway, feedback please.
It's usually triggered by something bad happening in my life, or if I'm generally in a sad mood. I go to my room and listen to music and then get this heart-wrenching feeling where I realise the world for what it is kind of thing...
It's like all the pain I've ever felt merged into one horrible/amazing/awe-inspiring feeling! I wonder if it's this feeling that convinces Christians that God exists... I can imagine them interpretting it as the pain Jesus felt or whatever.
Anyway, the feeling involves happiness/sadness/crying. Whatever objects are near me I see super close-up like I'm seeing them under a magnifying glass and I realise how crazy it is that the world is the way it is. And then I look out at the horizon and even if it's the most miserable day and the sky is grey I find it so achingly beautiful!
And then I get a sense of the whole sky pressing down like a weight on me, and I am just a tiny insignificant person...
I've had it many times and I'm sure it's normal (I am not crazy by the way!) but no one ever talks about it. It's like a taboo topic. I might bring it up with my closest friend but I'm even worried she might not no what I'm talking about and think I'm insane!
Anyway, feedback please.
I dont think it's a taboo subject at all,and I do feel like that sometimes,and most people probably do at some point in their lives,to varying degrees.(feeling insignificant) All I can really offer you is that I've felt similar,and I just live life to the best I can and dont let it get the better of me.
Original post by Anonymous
Anyway, feedback please.
Anyway, feedback please.
You're not insane, infact you've managed to realise what many people don't. In the context of the universe we are certainly all insignificant.
Don't let it ruin your life though, we can still enjoy ourselves, laugh and have fun times, and no matter how insignificant we are we can still have a positive impact on the world, no matter how small.
I think most of us feel this way at some point. Don't worry - you're not weird! I don't know if anyone can really help though. Even though you may have these moments where you feel insignificant, you'll still have plenty of times where you feel better. Just because we're small compared to the whole universe, doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves.
Original post by Anonymous
Right. I'm just wondering if there's a name for this state of mind and if any of you ever feel it.
It's usually triggered by something bad happening in my life, or if I'm generally in a sad mood. I go to my room and listen to music and then get this heart-wrenching feeling where I realise the world for what it is kind of thing...
It's like all the pain I've ever felt merged into one horrible/amazing/awe-inspiring feeling! I wonder if it's this feeling that convinces Christians that God exists... I can imagine them interpretting it as the pain Jesus felt or whatever.
Anyway, the feeling involves happiness/sadness/crying. Whatever objects are near me I see super close-up like I'm seeing them under a magnifying glass and I realise how crazy it is that the world is the way it is. And then I look out at the horizon and even if it's the most miserable day and the sky is grey I find it so achingly beautiful!
And then I get a sense of the whole sky pressing down like a weight on me, and I am just a tiny insignificant person...
I've had it many times and I'm sure it's normal (I am not crazy by the way!) but no one ever talks about it. It's like a taboo topic. I might bring it up with my closest friend but I'm even worried she might not no what I'm talking about and think I'm insane!
Anyway, feedback please.
It's usually triggered by something bad happening in my life, or if I'm generally in a sad mood. I go to my room and listen to music and then get this heart-wrenching feeling where I realise the world for what it is kind of thing...
It's like all the pain I've ever felt merged into one horrible/amazing/awe-inspiring feeling! I wonder if it's this feeling that convinces Christians that God exists... I can imagine them interpretting it as the pain Jesus felt or whatever.
Anyway, the feeling involves happiness/sadness/crying. Whatever objects are near me I see super close-up like I'm seeing them under a magnifying glass and I realise how crazy it is that the world is the way it is. And then I look out at the horizon and even if it's the most miserable day and the sky is grey I find it so achingly beautiful!
And then I get a sense of the whole sky pressing down like a weight on me, and I am just a tiny insignificant person...
I've had it many times and I'm sure it's normal (I am not crazy by the way!) but no one ever talks about it. It's like a taboo topic. I might bring it up with my closest friend but I'm even worried she might not no what I'm talking about and think I'm insane!
Anyway, feedback please.
This reminds me a lot of my ex; he got it a lot and it made him a bit crazy actually - maybe because he thought it was crazy himself. But I think that's because his friends aren't the kind of people to understand it (you have to be quite a curious and questioning person, who thinks about things a lot), so he could only really talk to me about it.
You put it in a very creative and magnificent way, but I think I get the same feeling too. But then I know that's because we are actually insignificant, so it's fine. Sometimes it's nice to be grounded.
Sorry, I haven't actually answered any of your questions haha.
You can look at it from the other side though, the chances of the Sun and Earth bring created at the exact conditions to create life must be fairly astronomical, and then the odds of your parents being created through a whole history of ancestors and relations, and then (sorry here where it gets graphic) the odds of your particular sperm hitting a particular egg. Basically, the odds of you being born is near impossible, and you should count yourself lucky for that.
Surely it takes the pressure off?
That's how I interpret it anyway...
But yes, we are woefully insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
That's how I interpret it anyway...
But yes, we are woefully insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
Original post by Zottula
I think most of us feel this way at some point. Don't worry - you're not weird! I don't know if anyone can really help though. Even though you may have these moments where you feel insignificant, you'll still have plenty of times where you feel better. Just because we're small compared to the whole universe, doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves.
Whey - drop out to geology, just like me
What did you study before?This state of mind is called an 'existential crisis' by the way when you question the signifiance of your own existance. It is fairly common amongst intelligent individuals, especially those who study the universe/physics. A few famous athiests have killed themselves over it.
(edited 13 years ago)
Original post by Nottingham_Banker
It is fairly common amongst intelligent individuals
source that shows it is more prominent in "intelligent individuals" than in, what I presume you would call, "non-intelligent individuals"?
Original post by Anonymous
Right. I'm just wondering if there's a name for this state of mind and if any of you ever feel it.
It's usually triggered by something bad happening in my life, or if I'm generally in a sad mood. I go to my room and listen to music and then get this heart-wrenching feeling where I realise the world for what it is kind of thing...
It's like all the pain I've ever felt merged into one horrible/amazing/awe-inspiring feeling! I wonder if it's this feeling that convinces Christians that God exists... I can imagine them interpretting it as the pain Jesus felt or whatever.
Anyway, the feeling involves happiness/sadness/crying. Whatever objects are near me I see super close-up like I'm seeing them under a magnifying glass and I realise how crazy it is that the world is the way it is. And then I look out at the horizon and even if it's the most miserable day and the sky is grey I find it so achingly beautiful!
And then I get a sense of the whole sky pressing down like a weight on me, and I am just a tiny insignificant person...
I've had it many times and I'm sure it's normal (I am not crazy by the way!) but no one ever talks about it. It's like a taboo topic. I might bring it up with my closest friend but I'm even worried she might not no what I'm talking about and think I'm insane!
Anyway, feedback please.
It's usually triggered by something bad happening in my life, or if I'm generally in a sad mood. I go to my room and listen to music and then get this heart-wrenching feeling where I realise the world for what it is kind of thing...
It's like all the pain I've ever felt merged into one horrible/amazing/awe-inspiring feeling! I wonder if it's this feeling that convinces Christians that God exists... I can imagine them interpretting it as the pain Jesus felt or whatever.
Anyway, the feeling involves happiness/sadness/crying. Whatever objects are near me I see super close-up like I'm seeing them under a magnifying glass and I realise how crazy it is that the world is the way it is. And then I look out at the horizon and even if it's the most miserable day and the sky is grey I find it so achingly beautiful!
And then I get a sense of the whole sky pressing down like a weight on me, and I am just a tiny insignificant person...
I've had it many times and I'm sure it's normal (I am not crazy by the way!) but no one ever talks about it. It's like a taboo topic. I might bring it up with my closest friend but I'm even worried she might not no what I'm talking about and think I'm insane!
Anyway, feedback please.
Yes, it's called "being a teenager". A common occurrence for people between the ages thirteen and nineteen, although it sometimes lingers into later life.
I clicked on this thread because I though was about Philosophy.
Read some books by Albert Camus and you'll be fine.
When you consider how large the solar system is and the conditions that needed to be met in order for our planet to sustain complex life, being 'alive' and actually having the intelligence to question your own existence is a lot more significant than you might think.
You're certainly not the only one to feel like this. It's just part of the human condition
Original post by Anonymous
It's usually triggered by something bad happening in my life, or if I'm generally in a sad mood. I go to my room and listen to music and then get this heart-wrenching feeling where I realise the world for what it is kind of thing...
It's like all the pain I've ever felt merged into one horrible/amazing/awe-inspiring feeling! I wonder if it's this feeling that convinces Christians that God exists... I can imagine them interpretting it as the pain Jesus felt or whatever.
It's usually triggered by something bad happening in my life, or if I'm generally in a sad mood. I go to my room and listen to music and then get this heart-wrenching feeling where I realise the world for what it is kind of thing...
It's like all the pain I've ever felt merged into one horrible/amazing/awe-inspiring feeling! I wonder if it's this feeling that convinces Christians that God exists... I can imagine them interpretting it as the pain Jesus felt or whatever.
I get the 'heart-wrenching' feeling sometimes when I listen to 'Mr Tambourine Man' by Dylan or some B.B. King, when I may suddenly start sobbing but also feel incredibly elated. Also, sometimes I may just be sitting on a train, and suddenly realize that everything I am experiencing will only ever happen once. Feels like I'm in a computer game sometimes, but its more like your sense of seeing the world 'as it is' and feeling that it's crazy that anything exists at all. As for the insignificance thing, for me it ties into the Buddhist/Platonic idea of the dissolution of the self as a way of achieving happiness. It's actually quite freeing. See the Beatles song 'Tomorrow Never Knows'.
(edited 13 years ago)
When you think of the actual vastness of the UNIVERSE it is truly insane that anyone can even fathom that we are special or that everything conspired to make us as we are. No, in the observable universe there are millions of galaxy's each containing millions of stars and each with their own planets. If you take the IC 1011 galaxy is tremendously larger than our puny Milky Way, just imagine what could be in there. So in reality how special and significant is planet Earth when there are billions of planets out there..... surely mathematically a few of them will be conducive so supporting complex life. This is just in the observable universe, at times contemplating your own profound insignificance is humbling and disturbing.
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