Only Roughly Speaking

Roughly speaking, the USA’s GDP is the same size as the 2nd largest, 3rd largest, and 4th largest economies in the world… Combined. Put those numbers into perspective. China has 1.3 billion people, Japan has 127 million people, Germany has 80 million people… this means 1.5+ billion people generate the same output compared to ~300 million people. This is 5x the output on a relative basis.

Wall Street Playboys. wallstreetplayboys.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. <http://wallstreetplayboys.com/america-the-good-and-bad/&gt;.

Optimistic news for America’s future is not the norm these days. Facts like these restore perspective of where we stand in the world.

Infinite Time and Space

Humans occupy a very small space in the infinite universe. They also occupy an extremely small space in the infinite timeline. It is awfully arrogant of us to claim that we are “special,” “individuals,” something a prime mover could “cherish.” The world is so massive and infinite. Each reader here is only one of an estimated 7,158,000,000.

In a world where rare objects tend to be valued what does that say about us? Humans are everywhere. Does that make us worthless?, cogs in a machine?, replaceable? It certainly seems so sometimes. In space and time so infinite how do we maintain our sanity? It is so easy to be overwhelmed by the pure size of infinite space and time. How is it possible for us to leave a legacy in something so vast?

“Shut off the past! Let the dead past bury its dead… Shut out the yesterdays which have lighted fools the way to dusty death… The load of tomorrow, added to that of yesterday, carried today, makes the strongest falter. Shut off the future as tightly as the past. … The future is today. …There is no tomorrow. The day of man’s salvation is now. Waste of energy, mental distress, nervous worries dog the steps of a man who is anxious about the future. …Shut close, then the great fore and aft bulkheads, and prepare to cultivate the habit of life of ‘day-tight compartments.” – Sir William Osier

As Sir William Osier says, we must shut off the past and future. The weight of our own past and own future “makes the strongest falter.” Just as Osier suggests our own pasts and futures should be shut off. Contemplation of our place in humanity’s infinite timeline must also be ignored. We struggle under the weight of our own time; the sheer possibility of infinite time overwhelms man. We cannot bear its weight.

Sir Osier should have also said that we must also defend ourselves from the infinitude of space. Just as we worry about our place in infinite time we also worry about our place in this infinite universe. However, like infinite time, our minds are not equipped to fathom infinite space. We build mental schemas and when we spend too much time staring into the abyss of infinite time and space it is easy to become overwhelmed.

Worrying about these things causes an ironic self-fulfilling prophecy. If we let these anxieties control us we will never make a mark on the time or space to which we belong. If we panic under the weight of time our lives will be over before we know it. If we panic under the weight of space, and our place in it, we will be intimidated by the necessary vastness of the action required to make a scratch. By purposely focusing taking a small view of time and space it causes mental anxieties to dissipate. By making small things big it is easier for us to find a niche in space and time. When one finds their niche they can focus on it with all their strength there so they can make a mark on their space and their time.

Death and Motivation

In the west there is a taboo surrounding death. People don’t want to talk, or even think, about it. Most funerals are incredibly somber, very uncomfortable events. They are one of the few remaining places where people have to face death. Places where people must face taboos often reveal insecurities. While death is often ignored in the west it is approached differently in the east. Nowhere is this more clear than the Buddhist religion. Buddhism maintains a strong connection to death. So strong, in fact, that they have a Nine-Point Meditation on Death.

Nine-Point Meditation on Death:

Truth 1: Death is certain.

1. We cannot escape death.
2. Each moment we’re alive brings us one step closer to death.
3. Death comes in a single instant and is unexpected.

Truth 2: The time of death is uncertain.

1. The duration of our lives is unpredictable.
2. There are more causes for death than causes for life.
3. The human body is extremely fragile.

Truth 3: The only thing that can help you at the time of death is your mental and spiritual development.

1. Wealth we’ve accumulated can’t help.
2. Friends and family can’t help.
3. Our bodies can’t help.

Self-improvement gurus, like the Buddhist, often advocate “embracing death” as a motivational technique. After all, what does anybody have to lose if they are going to die? Why would anybody be afraid to ask for a promotion given they are going to die in the future? However, this motivational technique also causes the user to ask: “Why would I ask for the promotion if it will not help me in death?” The user of the technique then applies this question to all of life. They realize no achievement or object is going to help them in death. This realization causes a depression because “nothing is worth doing if I am just going to die.” Next thing you know, the technique has caused a depressed individual, and not the motivated one it was meant to create. I propose this technique be framed differently.

The user should not be looking to make more money, improve their career or acquire a larger estate. None of that will help them life after death. What they should be looking for are experiences that will help them in life after death. For example, instead of desiring more money, desire the experiences that more money grants. Instead of desiring an improved career, desire the different experiences that a career upgrade will allow. Death is like the future; both are unknown. Nobody can see the future, but by gathering experiences, by stepping out of their comfort zone, people can better prepare themselves to face the future. Each successive experience grants them more confidence that they can handle any future. They aggressively left their comfort zone and survived over and over again. The mental certainty gained from a collection of experiences can be applied to the future and death. The accumulation of experiences gives the confidence to welcome death when he is on the doorstep. Death is adversity. By acquiring experiences people become more certain in their ability to handle that adversity. They can then welcome death, knowing that it is just another experience. They know they can handle it because they have pushed themselves to the limits in life.

So I challenge you to go out, garner experience, beat adversity, challenge yourself and grow your comfort zone. That way when death arrives at your doorstep you can welcome him with open arms and say, “Death, you are just another experience I will conquer”