Putting time in perspective
22nd October 2018
Life is short. We hear that a lot. But how well do we appreciate just how short our lives are when put into the context of the whole of time.
“If the Earth formed at midnight and the present moment is the next midnight, 24 hours later, modern humans have been around since 11:59:59pm—1 second. And if human history itself spans 24 hours from one midnight to the next, 14 minutes represents the time since Christ.”
I find it really useful sometimes to zoom right out and bask for a moment in the insignificance of our tiny lives. Quite the opposite of making me feel that life is so short it’s not worth bothering, it makes me feel free to give it my best shot and, if I fail, it doesn’t really matter. My mistakes and imperfections will soon be swallowed up and forgotten by history. In other words, I may as well dance as though no one is watching.
The following post, from the great Wait but Why website, maps out history in a series of graphical timelines. The commentary is entertaining and educational but, beware, there is a little bad language.
It’s only a 5 minute read…but it blew my mind!