22th May 2006

Location, location, location!
By John Fischer

I saw a documentary last night about how our view of our own planet and its place in the universe has changed over time. Before Copernicus shocked the world with his announcement that we had been revolving around the sun all along, people thought our little planet was the center of the universe. In other words, we were of great importance in the grand scheme of things – everything revolved around us.

What followed after Copernicus was a wide-scale denigration of our place in the universe. We became a tiny, infinitesimal dot in a vast array of galaxies by the millions and stars by the billions. We were the center of nothing – not even our own tiny solar system – greatly diminishing our place and any particular purpose we might have in the grand scheme of things. Along with this was the growing assumption, with so many more stars and solar systems out there, that we are not alone. There must be other solar systems and other planets out there that can support life – and most likely other intelligent beings too. We're not so special after all.

So we went from being somebody to nobody, and the point of the documentary was to show that relatively new discoveries in the last 50 years are once again altering our perception of our place in the universe. According to scientists and astronomers, things may be looking up for the human race on earth. This time our importance is measured not by being in the center of the universe, but by being in a remarkable place not only in the solar system, but also in our galaxy – a place that can support life and a place uniquely situated for us to observe and discover the universe around us. Or as they say in real estate: “Location, location, location!”

No, we are not the center of a solar system that revolves around us as the ancients believed, but neither are we a tiny blue dot lost in a cosmic sea. Instead, we are in a specific place suited perfectly for life and discovery. And as complicated as the universe is, its operation comes down to a few simple principles. In other words, we can understand our universe. As Albert Einstein concluded, “The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible.”

If we aren't in the center of the universe, we are in the center of an intelligent mind that put us in this optimal place with minds to figure out how our universe works – and hearts to seek out why.

No wonder we wonder about our purpose… we were made to wonder.