Potentiality

"Into this wilde Abyss

The Womb of nature and perhaps her Grave,

Of neither Sea, nor Shore, nor Air, nor Fire,

But all these in their pregnant causes mixed

Confus'dly, and which thus must ever fight,

Unless the almighty maker them ordain

His dark materials to create more Worlds,

Into this wilde Abyss the warie fiend

Stood on the brink of Hell and look'd a while,

Pondering his Voyage..."

From John Milton's Paradise Lost, Book II

Though I don't really believe in Satan as a living entity (demon or otherwise), I do think that it's an acceptable metaphor for the way we as humans live our lives. We are obviously tempted by things that we shouldn't have, and whether we give in to these temptations or not defines who we are or how "good" we are. The more we give in to temptation, the more we are like Satan. I think Satan's journey in Milton's Paradise Lost is not unlike the one we all experience in our lives.

One thing that I find really interesting (and frustrating) is that the definition between right and wrong is never clear. Sometimes it's not even a matter of consciously choosing the right thing; sometimes the right thing seems obvious, and sometimes the wrong thing seems obviously right. Why shouldn't we explore medicine, time and space, become masters of the universe, and have more control over these things? If there is a God, then this is clearly the wrong thing, not for us to control. But even if there isn't a God.. what's the point? We are only here for a short period of time, and our universe will eventually collapse.  What scares me most is that, if we eventually harness all the power of our world and hyperspace, who will control it? No one should be trusted with that kind of power. Especially not humans. 

We are heading into a wild abyss. We don't know what's in it, and what's more, we don't know why or if we should. Just as Satan moved to create his own world outside of God's, our modern scientists are moving into dimensions and discorveries that may change our perception of the world we live in, our perception of purpose. The scariest thought I can imagine is that we might be able to prove that our existence is meaningless, a random act of chance and coincidence. What if our brains just manufacture feelings, if love doesn't mean as much as we think it does. Our world is damaged enough as it is.. do we really want to know that life is meaningless? or can we be content to stay where we are, and live and die with some amount of hope left?