Every day, we go about our lives without pausing to ponder the mysteries of our reality. What makes us so scared to face the truth? Why are our minds so resistant to the realities of the darkness of our universe? Are we fearful that we may not be unique, or are we unwilling to face the brutality of reality?
For millennia, scientists struggled to find answers to topics that broke the human mind. However, through their sweat and toil, they discovered multiple truths to many mind-bending and existential crisis-inducing mysteries. Today, we’ll explore 5 of these secrets.
The Illusion of Free Will
Do you have free will? You’ll likely answer a resounding yes to this question without thought. After all, how can you not have free will when you clicked on this article to read about things that could give you an existential crisis?
Though you may be sure your free will is secured, how about we peer deeper into why you clicked on this article in the first place? There are hundreds of millions, if not billions, of articles on the internet, and millions are published every hour.
However, you went online and searched for cool existential crisis-inducing facts. You kept scrolling through other articles till you reached this, and then you clicked the link, leaving you here.
Though this may seem like randomized events, what if they aren’t? What if you searched for facts in the first place because you were bored and remembered a video you watched about existential crisis facts? What if this remembrance led you to type in a specific manner Google used to bring this article right to you? What if you clicked on the link because it reminded you of a favorite video or article you watched somewhere?
With all the seemingly orchestrated yet random events that led you here, you could say that at this point, you were compelled by the sum of your past actions to click on the link and read this article, meaning you have no free will over what you did.
The idea of free will has baffled philosophers, who have constantly argued for and against the idea that humans can act on their own volition without external influence. While it seems tempting to think we have absolute free will, that idea is not solid. Humanity exists in a society that operates based on influence. Governments influence their citizens, and parents influence their children, who eventually grow up to influence others. So, with this, do you think you have free will?
The Darkness of The Universe
If you use the internet, you must have heard about the universe. Many astrophysicists and scientists have argued about the nature of everything in this reality. However, one answer we have never figured out is the universe. Where exactly are we?
According to the leading scientific theories, the universe is an ever-expanding entity that houses all the galaxies, stars, quasars, black holes, and planets. It’s so large that figuring out its size is almost impossible. However, a problem arises when we start to think of the position of our universe.
There must be an initial point if we’re in an expansive state. So, where in reality is our universe, and where did it start? This question may never be answered by anything in the universe simply because we are an after-product of the expansion, so we can’t know where we are.
We’ll leave it to the physicists and mathematicians. They love existential crisis questions.
Fact or Fiction: Are You Real?
It must seem like such a bizarre question for someone to ask if you are real. Why won’t you be? You are touching your screen, mouse pad, or mouse. But it goes far deeper than your mind can handle.
Have you heard the tale of the man woken up by a lamp? A man in the United States went through an ordeal that gave a dark side to the question: ARE YOU REAL?
While in school, he met a beautiful woman he fell in love with. After months of pursuing her, they finally got together, and life felt beautiful. As their relationship soared, the man knew he would spend the rest of his life with his lover, and he married her. They had a lovely daughter and son. However, something odd struck the man’s mind when he stared at a lamp.
It looked odd and inverted. The man became obsessed with the lamp and kept staring at it. One day, the lamp started growing. Eventually, a wave of pain washed over the man. He suddenly woke up and realized everything was a dream as he had been in an accident.
Now, if someone could go through an ordeal like this, how are you sure you’re not a part of someone’s dream? How are you convinced you’re a real person reading this article and not just part of an even weirder being?
Are We Alone?
Since we gained the ability to peer into the stars, we have always wondered if we were alone. To half of the Fermi Paradox isle, people believe it’s impossible to be alone as the universe is so big there must have been other planets in similar situations as Earth. The other half says we are alone in the vast emptiness of space.
An absolute existential crisis will occur if either of these answers are correct. First, if there are other living organisms in this universe, and we learn of them, then everything we hold as a value goes out the window. All religions, cultures, and belief systems will instantly shatter as they are human-centered. Imagine telling an alien you believe your planet is special because a deity only known by humanity made it. That won’t make sense anymore.
If we are alone in the universe, then questions of authenticity will arise. Some will include: Are we just part of an experiment? Are we in a simulation? And what’s the point?
Dreams And The Human Mind
The human mind is a complex entity scientists have studied for centuries. Even with the advancements in neuroscience, it seems we are not even close to understanding how our mind works.
One aspect of our existence that seems unreal is dreaming. Dreams are so weird because they are one of the few aspects of our consciousness that science cannot access, as they are private and impossible to manipulate.
Have you ever had a dream, and you’re sure you experienced an entirely different life? Or a dream where you went to the past, or a dream where you lived an alternate lifestyle?
Many of us have had dreams like this, and science doesn’t know why they happen. Some people may cite supernatural reasons for dreams, but we can’t be sure. They may be glimpses into realities we can’t physically access, or we may be crossing universes to glimpse into the lives of others like us.
So wild, right? The amount of possibilities that dreams could be yet, we may never be able to know what’s going on.
Don’t stress yourself too much if the above facts make you feel dreadful. It’s perfectly fine to ponder on the nature of existence, and having an existential crisis means you are aware of this reality.
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed reading through our 5 existential crisis-inducing facts. If you want something more cheerful, check out our Cool Christmas Facts or search our Facts Database and explore our Facts of the Week.
