Why do people believe that life is a miracle?

[tryingtoquietdown]

I agree with everyone in the comments saying that life can be considered a miracle because of the actual rarity of the creation of life in the grand scheme of the universe. When people say this kind of thing to others, they're usually coming from a religious perspective or a natalist perspective. I think I've only heard the "life is a miracle" sentiment genuinely when 1) someone is talking about pregnancy, especially if there have been issues conceiving, 2) they're talking about God, or 3) they're trying to guilt you out of feeling suicidal.

They might also genuinely believe that life is a miracle because they are lucky enough to not be burdened with the worst that life can offer. Ignorance is bliss.

 

[DreamEnd]

Generally speaking it is a miracle. Think about how many years it took for species to develop to the point where we can think and be conscious of the experience we are having here?

 

[UKscotty]

Random molecules coming together in an infinite universe, to make up a reality where the universe can in a way study itself.

I know when we are depressed we feel like life is a burden, but most people don't feel like that.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

Perhaps it is…fuck H2O. Do you think that any other solvents could act like/as water on different planets?

I'm not sure but I've heard of hypothesized life based on silicon instead of carbon.

 

[dreamscape1111]

How so?

1. Life is much more profound than any explanation.

2. How not so?

Can you explain how this present moment came to be?

"The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you."

~ Werner Heisenberg

"The more I learn of physics, the more i am drawn to metaphysics."
~ Albert Einstein

"Our separation from each other is an optical illusion."
~ Albert Einstein

"One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike. We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us. It is entirely possible that behind the perception of our senses, worlds are hidden of which we are unaware."
~ Albert Einstein

"The ancients knew something, which we seem to have forgotten."
~ Albert Einstein

"I am not an Atheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds…

We are in the position of a little child, entering a huge library whose walls are covered to the ceiling with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written those books…

The common idea that I am an atheist is based on a big mistake. Anyone who interprets my scientific theories this way, did not understand them…

Everything is determined, for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper. The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion."
~ Albert Einstein

"Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be changed from one form to another."
~ Albert Einstein

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and their eyes are dimmed. Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts."
~ Albert Einstein

"I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am."
~ Albert Einstein

"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
~ Albert Einstein

"Religion and science go together. As l've said before, science without religion is lame and religion without science is blind, they are interdependent and have a common goal: the search for truth."
~ Albert Einstein

"All religions Arts and Sciences are branches of the same tree."
~ Albert Einstein

"Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that some spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, one that is vastly superior to that of humans. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort."
~ Albert Einstein

"Study and, in general, the pursuit of Truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives."
~ Albert Einstein

 

[sserafim]

I'm not sure but I've heard of hypothesized life based on silicon instead of carbon.

I've heard that as well. I wonder what it would be like. Btw, isn't silicon used a lot in tech? Like Silicon Valley

 

[ijustwishtodie]

They say that life is a miracle because of how unlikely it is for life to have developed on earth to begin with. In other words, they think that life is a miracle because the odds of life existing is extremely low and because life is beautiful (though they never explicitly say that life is beautiful for this argument as they assume that everybody, by default, thinks that life is beautiful).

I personally never understood the idea of life being rare to exist. I think that the probability of life existing is really high since the universe is infinitely long

 

[sserafim]

1. Life is much more profound than any explanation.

2. How not so?

Can you explain how this present moment came to be?



~ Werner Heisenberg

"The more I learn of physics, the more i am drawn to metaphysics."
~ Albert Einstein

"Our separation from each other is an optical illusion."
~ Albert Einstein

"One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike. We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us. It is entirely possible that behind the perception of our senses, worlds are hidden of which we are unaware."
~ Albert Einstein

"The ancients knew something, which we seem to have forgotten."
~ Albert Einstein

"I am not an Atheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds…

We are in the position of a little child, entering a huge library whose walls are covered to the ceiling with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written those books…

The common idea that I am an atheist is based on a big mistake. Anyone who interprets my scientific theories this way, did not understand them…

Everything is determined, for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper. The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion."
~ Albert Einstein

"Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be changed from one form to another."
~ Albert Einstein

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and their eyes are dimmed. Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts."
~ Albert Einstein

"I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am."
~ Albert Einstein

"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
~ Albert Einstein

"Religion and science go together. As l've said before, science without religion is lame and religion without science is blind, they are interdependent and have a common goal: the search for truth."
~ Albert Einstein

"All religions Arts and Sciences are branches of the same tree."
~ Albert Einstein

"Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that some spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, one that is vastly superior to that of humans. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort."
~ Albert Einstein

"Study and, in general, the pursuit of Truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives."
~ Albert Einstein

Not all miracles are wanted or good

They say that life is a miracle because of how unlikely it is for life to have developed on earth to begin with. In other words, they think that life is a miracle because the odds of life existing is extremely low and because life is beautiful (though they never explicitly say that life is beautiful for this argument as they assume that everybody, by default, thinks that life is beautiful).

I personally never understood the idea of life being rare to exist. I think that the probability of life existing is really high since the universe is infinitely long

Me neither. I believe that there's extraterrestrial life out there, and human pride and hubris deludes people into believing that earth is the only planet with life in the universe

 

[ctbcat]

easier to delude yourself by telling yourself an affirmation within those confines

so many people are suicidal during their lifetimes whether or not they actually pursue it. it's all about keeping us here

by saying it people hope we will be... 'grateful', to the mystical force that brought us here, that somehow purpose will come out of nowhere because we were 'lucky' to not be a miscarriage, or die out of the womb.

 

[sserafim]

easier to delude yourself by telling yourself an affirmation within those confines

so many people are suicidal during their lifetimes whether or not they actually pursue it. it's all about keeping us here

by saying it people hope we will be... 'grateful', to the mystical force that brought us here, that somehow purpose will come out of nowhere because we were 'lucky' to not be a miscarriage, or die out of the womb.

They're implying that life is a good thing right? Why do they think that existing is the ultimate good? Honestly, I wish I were a miscarriage. Life is too much trouble for what it's worth…I'm not grateful for my life at all. If anything, I'm the opposite. Life has brought me nothing but problems

 

[dreamscape1111]

Not all miracles are good

"Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God."
~ A Course In Miracles ~

"You dwell not here, but in eternity.
You travel but in dreams, while safe at home."
~ Course

In quietness, all things are answered.
- ACIM -

Love holds no grievances.
~ ACIM

"There is an ancient peace you carry in your heart and have not lost."
- A Course In Miracles ~

Light is unlimited, and spreads across this world in quiet joy. ~ACIM

You dream of isolation because your eyes are closed. ACIM

Sit quietly and look upon the world you see, and tell yourself:
The real world is not like this.
It has no buildings and there are no streets where people walk alone and separate.
There are no stores where people buy an endless list of things they do not need.
It is not lit with artificial light, and night comes not upon it.
There is no day that brightens and grows dim. There is no loss.
Nothing is there but shines, and shines forever.
ACIM

You cannot see both worlds. - ACIM -

You do not really want the world you see,
for it has disappointed you since time began.
~ ACIM ~

Nothing you made but has the mark of death on it. ACIM

You who would judge reality cannot see it, for whenever judgment enters reality has slipped away.
~ A Course In Miracles ~

"You wait but for Yourself." -ACIM

"What could you need in eternity?" - ACIM

Everything the ego tells you that you need will hurt you. -ACIM

The end of guilt will never come as long as you believe there is a reason for it.
For you must learn that guilt is always totally insane, and has no reason. -ACIM

You cannot enter into real relationships with any of god's sons unless you love them all and equally.
Love is not special. -ACIM

What you see reflects your thinking,
and your thinking but reflects the choice of what you want to see.
- A Course In Miracles -

Fear is a stranger to the ways of love.
Identify with fear, and you will be a stranger to yourself.
~ ACIM ~

You need to hear the truth about yourself as frequently as possible,
because your mind is so preoccupied with false self-images.
~ ACIM

"What you think you are is a belief to be undone."
- A Course In Miracles -

The Holy Spirit sees the world as a teaching device for bringing you home.
~ A Course In Miracles ~

Forgiveness can truly be called salvation.
It is the means by which illusions disappear.
- ACIM

You are a child of God, a priceless part of His Kingdom,
which He created as part of Him.
Nothing else exists and only this is real.
You have chosen a sleep in which you have had bad dreams,
but the sleep is not real and God calls you to awake.
~ ACIM

You are at home in God, dreaming of exile but perfectly capable of awakening to reality.
Is it your decision to do so?
You recognize from your own experience that what you see in dreams you think is real while you are asleep.
Yet the instant you waken you realize that everything that seemed to happen in the dream did not happen at all.
You do not think this strange, even though all the laws of what you awaken to were violated while you slept.
Is it not possible that you merely shifted from one dream to another, without really waking?
~ A Course In Miracles ~

The ego is insane.
In fear it stands beyond the Everywhere, apart from All, in separation from the Infinite…
It dreams of punishment, and trembles at the figures in its dreams;…
- ACIM -

Can you imagine what it means to have no cares, no worries, no anxieties,
but merely to be perfectly calm and quiet all the time?
Yet that is what time is for; to learn just that and nothing more.
~ Course

Every decision you make stems from what you think you are,
and represents the value that you put upon yourself. ~ ACIM~

"Would you be hostage to the ego or host to God?"
Every decision you make is for Heaven or for hell,
and brings you the awareness of what you decided for.
~ A Course In Miracles

This is God's Final Judgment:
"You are still My holy Son, forever innocent, forever loving and forever loved,
as limitless as your Creator, and completely changeless and forever pure.
Therefore awaken and return to Me. I am your Father and you are My Son."
- A Course In Miracles -

 

[MyChoiceAlone]

help! i may be getting bullied on this page! i'm joking but why the hmps?

 

[Azno]

Life is just a product of chemistry, it has absolutely no purpose.

 

[sserafim]

Life is just a product of chemistry, it has absolutely no purpose.

I agree. There's no point to why life exists

 

[heisenberg]

i feel like this answer depends somewhat on people's religious beliefs. personally i don't see life as anything special. i don't think life is inherently meaningful or has purpose.

 

[davidtorez]

I'm not sure if life is a miracle , maybe it is in a sense that it arose from quantum particles and all the right "things" fell into place etc. I have heard life is a "gift" though all too many times, but the question then becomes , if life is a gift then why can't I give it away? What good is a gift that you can't give away, it is no longer a gift but a burden now. This is something that dr. Philip Nitschke brings up in his conversations sometimes and I think it just makes so much sense

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I've heard that as well. I wonder what it would be like. Btw, isn't silicon used a lot in tech? Like Silicon Valley

Yep, it's useful for microchips and glass. Perhaps AI really is the next stage of life.

 

[CuriosityAndCat]

Depends on definition of miracle. From my biochemistry and neuroscience background. It's pretty amazing. Proteomics alone is molecular machinery of extreme complexity. Brain organization and single shot learning is hard to believe it even works. Of course not everything works properly hence why many of us are here.

 

[Pluto]

 

[Forever Sleep]

I think it was a post by @Darkover that said the chances of being born are about one in four trillion:

Being born is a tragedy, not a miracle

The chances of being born are extremely slim, about one in four trillion. People use this statistic to tell you how lucky you are or how being birthed is a miracle. I disagree, I believe it to be the opposite, being born is the worst thing that can happen. Being birthed is a tragedy, the...

sanctioned-suicide.net

How they work that out though, I don't know but- basically, it seems like something that had the odds stacked against it- so in that sense, it was a rare event.

Beyond that though- people will bring their own bias to it. If they love life and are grateful for having had the opportunity to experience it, it makes sense they would see it as some gift/miracle.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

How they work that out though, I don't know but- basically, it seems like something that had the odds stacked against it- so in that sense, it was a rare event.

If there is an infinite amount of time available then everything is possible.

 

[lucas28481]

well it technically it is, the odds of you existing is something like 1 in 400 quadrillion, though I'd still rather of not been born at all

 

[sserafim]

If there is an infinite amount of time available then everything is possible.

Wdym?

well it technically it is, the odds of you existing is something like 1 in 400 quadrillion, though I'd still rather of not been born at all

Just because it's rare doesn't mean it's good. Saying that life is a miracle implies that life is inherently good, sacred and valuable.

I think it was a post by @Darkover that said the chances of being born are about one in four trillion:

Being born is a tragedy, not a miracle

The chances of being born are extremely slim, about one in four trillion. People use this statistic to tell you how lucky you are or how being birthed is a miracle. I disagree, I believe it to be the opposite, being born is the worst thing that can happen. Being birthed is a tragedy, the...

sanctioned-suicide.net

How they work that out though, I don't know but- basically, it seems like something that had the odds stacked against it- so in that sense, it was a rare event.

Beyond that though- people will bring their own bias to it. If they love life and are grateful for having had the opportunity to experience it, it makes sense they would see it as some gift/miracle.

The most annoying thing about life is that it was forced upon everyone though. Nobody could consent to experiencing it or not. I didn't get a say in being brought into existence, it just happened.

 

[Fr33fallin24]

The science behind life is a miracle. The life you lead may differ.

 

[sserafim]

The science behind life is a miracle. The life you lead may differ.

What's miraculous about it? Sperm meets egg and boom zygote then embryo then fetus then baby.

Depends on definition of miracle. From my biochemistry and neuroscience background. It's pretty amazing. Proteomics alone is molecular machinery of extreme complexity. Brain organization and single shot learning is hard to believe it even works. Of course not everything works properly hence why many of us are here.

Why do you think that those particular configurations of molecules makes them alive and results in life? What's special about them? What exactly even makes molecules alive?

 

[Praestat_Mori]

Wdym?

According to quantum theories everything is possible if you have an infinite amount of time.

 

[Rimuss]

Life itself is a miracle bc actually it consists of dead atoms and molecules that become "alive" in certain configurations and manage to reproduce themselves and build more complex structures, like bacteria and all life that exists on earth.

Just bc we humans make our lives hard due to how we force ourselves to live - mainly in concrete deserts (=cities) and not in nature we can't blame life in general for our problems.

I get your point… but I dont have big problems, except life itself lol
My problem is being born.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

I get your point… but I dont have big problems, except life itself lol
My problem is being born.

From all living creatures on earth only we humans may have the ability to think about that bc our lives consist of much more than just the basic needs like food, water and a safe place to sleep.

What makes your life so unbearable to wish you were never born? I would like to understand more of that way of thinking when the reasons are not health issues and terrible life circumstances in general.

 

[Rimuss]

From all living creatures on earth only we humans may have the ability to think about that bc our lives consist of much more than just the basic needs like food, water and a safe place to sleep.

What makes your life so unbearable to wish you were never born? I would like to understand more of that way of thinking when the reasons are not health issues and terrible life circumstances in general.

When I was 6, I said to my dad that if I had cancer, I wouldn't get treatment. Since 12, I have clearly suicidal thoughts (jumping).
I've never had big dreams, everything seems boring and I hate doing little things like bathing or going out. Pets are my distraction sometimes.
I suspect that I'm autistic. I don't know.

 

[PetrichorBirth]

In a way i understand it. Imagine you have a bunch of chemicals floating around the universe, and you just give it a couple hundred billion years and suddenly you get all these complex patterns, and humans that have a consciousness and all of that crazy stuff. That is pretty special if you ask me. And of course there are also people that offer a more religious approach. Whether that's good or bad depends on the quality of ones life i guess.