What I am reading; 4,000 weeks
This doesn’t do it justice. But it is my extremely short summary of Cosmic Insignificance.
“The average human lifespan is absurdly short. Assuming that you live to 80, that is 4,000 weeks. Human civilization is about six thousand years old, and we think that is a long time. In every generation there were a few people that lived to 100.
By this measure, the Egyptians lived 35 lifetimes ago. Jesus was born 20 lifetimes ago, and the Renaissance happened 7 lifetimes back. 5 lifetimes ago, Henry VIII was King of England. The number of lives you’d need in order to span the whole of civilization, 60, is the number of friends that can squeeze into a living room.
Our own lives will be a tiny little flicker in the scheme of things. A pinpoint. In other words, we almost certainly won’t put a dent in the universe.
But the theory is that once you’re no longer burdened by such an unrealistic definition of a “life well spent,” you’re free to consider the possibility that a far wider variety of things might qualify as meaningful ways to use your time.
This is called Cosmic Insignificance theory. And I have 1,200 weeks to go if the theory is correct, or 2,400 if I am very lucky.
Time is not a measure of a life well-lived, but what you choose to do with your time is important.
Thank you Tim Ferriss. You can read the whole chapter here:
Recent Comments