BasOct 20
JA Westenberg

The sun will swallow the Earth.

The galaxies will fade.

Protons will decay.

Your LinkedIn bio will not survive this process.

This is a Good Thing™️

https://www.joanwestenberg.com/p/you-are-insignificant-that-s-a-good-thing

You Are Insignificant. That's a Good Thing.

A Short Guide to Being Infinitesimally Small

Westenberg.
Oct 20 at 12:22amTypefully
Show threadkevinOct 20
@Daojoan yeah, but in the meantime, people are suffering. (never mind i know you know this)
Show threadProf. Sam LawlerOct 20

@Daojoan THIS is why I'm an astronomer! (well, and a lot of random chances!)

Thank you for writing this up so beautifully

Show threadBoltOct 20
@Daojoan Thank you, what a great article!
Show threadAoi_X_KaizakiOct 20
@Daojoan My life is insignificant right now. I'm worthless and pathetic.
Show threadFlipper 🐬🏳️‍🌈Oct 20
@Daojoan it's a good job we have an immortal soul... Wait, I'm getting extra information on this.. Oh.
Show threadDaniel LatzOct 20
@Daojoan insignificant if you compare yourself to unending collections of rock and gas and vast lakes of methane. I may feel important but to put things in perspective there are hotel sized diamonds floating in a lake?
Show threadToddZ ⓋOct 20

@Daojoan This is something I've been feeling over the last few years but hadn't put into words.

Now I don't have to because you nailed it perfectly.

This should be mandatory reading for a whole lot of people trying really hard to be significant right now.

Show threadzenkatOct 20
@Daojoan Not only is it not all about you, it's not about you at all.
Show threadStéphanieOct 20
@Daojoan https://youtu.be/1RNX7tdCB9s?si=h4UeMVNtqEKYzLCK
Monty Python's Galaxy Song with Updated Lyrics | Space and Universe Anthem|

YouTube
Show threadMartin PigeonOct 20
@Daojoan very liberating reminder, thank you! Have a nice day :)
Show threadStarkRGOct 20
@Daojoan Protons *might* decay, they might not. Even if they don't, though, they will all eventually be so far apart from each other that they'll all be in their own observable Universe.
Show threadChao-c'Oct 23
@StarkRG Protons were never observed to decay, yet. But I don't know, if it makes sense to add to my bio that I know this fact... not mentioning LinkedIn bio...
@Daojoan
Show threadStarkRGOct 23

@xChaos @Daojoan Yeah, based on experimental evidence, there are a handful of lower bounds for the predicted half-life of protons (the lowest is 10³⁴ years), assuming they do decay, which are all many orders of magnitude greater than the current age of the Universe (1.4x10¹⁰ years). Maybe someone will see it happen, but they probably won't be human.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_decay#Experimental_evidence

Proton decay - Wikipedia

Show threadChao-c'Oct 23
@StarkRG the problem, that the chance, that they will be able to observe sufficient amount of protons for sufficient long period of time will be always the same, as for us (and this is, where the half-lives get tricky and where bios of scientists and journalists diverge...) @Daojoan
Show threadF4GRX SébastienOct 20

@Daojoan And then you realize that the big bang was theorized by Georges Lemaitre.

Who was, before any other thing, a catholic priest.

Now notice that we never had a good theory for inflation.

which means, that we still dont have a good explanation for the origin of the universe, and the big bang explosion "all from nothing" is just as bad as "god made the world".

we're even more insignificant that we can realize.

Show threaddwardoricOct 20
@Daojoan Wonderful! Makes me remember some texts by Hanna Ahrendt. That's a good thing! 😊
Show threadantonthomOct 20
@Daojoan beautiful, thank you
Show threadStoneface VimesOct 20
@Daojoan I wouldn't be so sure. I've tried to deregister since 2009 and still can't get shot of them. At least I don't often get notices or communications. God knows how I achieved this but I'm not going to poke the bear.
Show threadNyrOct 20
@Daojoan Yes!🤭 Thanks!
Show threadRyek DarkenerOct 20

@Daojoan

TLDR;)

"And Crawling,
On The Planet's Face,
Some Insects,
Called The Human Race.
Lost In Time, And Lost In Space...
And Meaning."
(From "Rocky Horror Picture Show")

Show threadXaverOct 20
@Daojoan It's not a good thing being insignificant
Show threadStephen Brooks 🦆Oct 20

@Daojoan
The year 5 quadrillion

Voiceover: Somehow, his LinkedIn bio survived.