Carl Sagan described this thinking beautifully when he commented on the scientific perspective regarding our place in the cosmos. Since the birth of modern science three centuries years ago, we’ve been steeped in a story that leaves us feeling that we’re little more than insignificant specks of dust in the universe – biological sidebars in the overall scheme of life. When you ask ‘Who are we?’, the short answer is that you’re not what you’ve been told, and more than you’ve ever imagined. This also includes changing the existing story when new discoveries give us the reasons to do so. This includes taking into consideration every source of information available, from the leading edge science of today to the wisdom of 5,000(+) years of human experience. It’s precisely because the way we think of ourselves plays such a vital role in our lives, that we owe it to ourselves to answer ‘Who are we?’ as truthfully and honestly as possible. The answer underlies the foundation of everything we do in our lives The way we think of ourselves determines the corporate policies that either justify the dumping of 12 million(+) tons of used plastic and thousands of gallons of radioactive waste in the world’s oceans each year, or that cherishes the living oceans enough to invest in preserving them.Įven the choice of how countries create the borders that separate them, and how we justify when armies cross those borders to march onto the land and into the homes of another nation begins with how we understand ourselves to be. When their delicate sense of self-worth is so overpowered by the relentless bullying from rivals and classmates, it’s their answer to ‘Who am I?’ that gives them the strength to heal their hurt and, sometimes, makes the difference between when they feel worthy of living and when they don’t. What we teach our children is also affected by our opinion of ourselves. From who we say ‘yes!’ to when it comes to choosing a life partner and how long our partnerships last once we create them, to what jobs we feel we’re capable of performing, the most important decisions that we’ll ever make in life are based in the way we answer this simple, timeless question. Our self-esteem, self-worth, sense of confidence, well-being and our beliefs of spirituality and God each stem directly from the way we think of ourselves in the world. Conversely, recent discoveries confirm that when we approach life knowing that our bodies are designed to constantly repair, rejuvenate and heal, this shift in perspective creates the chemistry in our cells that mirrors our belief. For example, when we think of ourselves as separate from our bodies, we approach the healing process feeling like powerless victims of an experience that we have no control over. It forms the perceptual eyes – the filters – through which we see other people, the world around us, and most importantly, ourselves. The way we answer the words ‘Who are we?’ penetrates to the essence of each moment in every day of life. In what may be the greatest irony of our lives, following more than 5,000 years of recorded history and technological achievements that stagger the imagination, we have yet to answer this most basic question with certainty. During the estimated 200,000 years or so that we’ve been on Earth the question we’ve asked is simply this: Who are we?
It’s at the heart of every choice we’ll ever face, and it forms the foundation for every decision we’ll ever make. The question they’ve asked speaks directly to the core of every challenge that will ever test us in life, no matter how big or how small. Since the time our earliest ancestors looked with awe into the distant stars of a moonless night sky, a single question has been asked countless times, by countless numbers of people, sharing the same experience through the ages.
Who are we? How differently would we live our lives knowing that we’re more than the product of random evolution?
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