Insignificant
How significant is the function of an ant to the health of the colony? How significant is the role of a wildebeest in keeping the animal’s migration going in the African Savanna? How significant is the life of a single monkey in the evolution of man? How significant is the function of an assembly worker in an auto plant? How significant is the role of an office clerk in keeping the company profitable? How significant is the life of a soldier in determining the outcome of a war? The answer to all those questions is insignificant with the exception of a few special individuals like the leader of the pack. The well-being, health, and the long term survival of a given species depend on the collective efforts of the majority of the population.
In the animal and insect world, each living thing instinctively knows one’s role and function. Even though every living thing’s existence is insignificant, they all go through the harsh and unforgiving obstacles setup by Nature without knowing what tomorrow will bring – food or death. On the other hand, in the human world, we need to learn our role and function. Even though the average persons’ existence is insignificant, they can enjoy the good and happy times, endure the sad and tragic moments, and avoid the dangerous and life threatening situations.
Insect World
There are around a million known insect species performing vital functions in Nature’s ecosystem. They pollinate the plants and flowers, digest the organic wastes, and are a food source for the living things on the higher food chain. They perform these tediously simple and repetitive tasks that cover vast territory with sheer numbers, day in and day out.
The insects are small in size and can multiple in large numbers in a short time under non-ideal conditions. Even though each insect knows instinctively what to do, faithfully and tirelessly, to ensure the survival of the colony, its life is expendable, replaceable, and insignificant. Even when 90% of the colony’s population is decimated by predators or natural catastrophes, the colony can still bounce back in full force to play its role in Nature’s ecosystem.
Animal World
Animals big or small can be found in the forest, under the water, and out on the open fields. Their only purpose in life is to survive long enough to reproduce to ensure that its unique genetics can be passed on to the next generation. Each animal instinctively knows what food to eat and how to find mate. Most animals stay with a group to increase the chance of survival. But, every animal is at the mercy of the environmental conditions, diseases, accidents, starvation, and or predators. Their existence can be cut short any time.
The survival of each animal species depends on the well-being of its population. Since the animal multiplies only in small number in longer time cycle, some animal species will face extinction to be replaced by more adaptable species. Each animal is thrown into Nature’s laboratory subjecting to harsh and unforgiving tests and experiments. It is merely an expendable, replaceable, and insignificant subject amongst the countless other animals. The results are that life on Earth is always moving toward more sophistication and increasing diversity that eventually lead to the significant emergence of an animal called the human beings.
Human World
In the game of life, the old rules no longer apply to the human beings who are able to:
1) Grow and control the source of food,
2) Invent weapons of mass destruction to become the top predator, and
3) Come up with an educational system to teach the young the accumulated knowledge of survival.
In times, the human beings have built a man-made world where they can live in comfort and leisure to old age. The emergence of the human beings is a significant event in the development of life on Earth.
At the dawn of the human’s civilization, most of the average human beings played significant roles in food gatherings, the defense from the predators, and the caring and teaching of the young. As the human population exploded and their knowledge of how Nature works grew in breadth and depth:
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Food growing and processing are automated wherever possible to increase production,
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Governing bodies are established to be responsible for the development of weapons of mass destruction and the defense of the population,
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12 years of free, systematic, disciplined, and comprehensive education is established, etc.
As a result, most of the average human beings’ life has become monotonous, inconsequential, and statistical:
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Working from 9 to 5 and raising a family,
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Majority rules drowning out the outcry of the individual,
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Certain percentage of the population is going to fall victim to traffic accidents, domestic violence, and diseases, etc.
With the exception of a few, each human being’s life has become insignificant.
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Nature World
All living things on Earth are under the control of Nature’s invisible laws. Everything seems to occur randomly but there is a purpose behind. It is learned that the development of life on Earth followed a prescribed path. It all started with single-celled organism from bacteria to fish in the ocean, to amphibian, reptile, mammal, and human on land.
The transition from bacteria to fish took nearly 3.5 billion years. The process controlled by Nature’s invisible laws also depends on the environmental changes and conditions while the living things provided the random genetic mutations that fuel the slow but certain transformation from one distinct species to another. The environmental changes and conditions were preserved in the layers of earth beneath the ground of certain parts of the Earth. The genetic mutations can be traced from the human beings to the bacteria in the DNAs of the cell that all living things have in common. The human beings are the only living things that can see through Nature’s game of life. And that is significant.
