People have always tried to answer the question, “What is it going to be like to be dead?” with “well, what did you think or feel before you were born?” But they say this without having any real idea or thought about what that looks like, quickly moving on to their raspberry drizzle aperitifs with lemon drizzle croissant beef tips. Luckily for you people, I do have an idea about what it’s like:
The Universe is 13B years old. Let’s assume it’ll go on for another 13B. Meanwhile, you’re here as a living, sentient human being for – hopefully! – about 80 of those years.
For these first thirteen billion years, imagine you’re a piece of sand at the bottom of the ocean. The ocean is relentless, with wave after wave touching the shore before rolling back to make room for the next wave. It never stops. With each wave, you move slightly closer to the shore. You feel nothing. You see nothing. You have no idea you’re even there or exist. But with each wave, you get a little closer to shore. It takes each and every one of those 13B years to get you to the shore but then suddenly
BLAMMO!!! You hit the beach! You’re out in the open, it’s warm and sunny and you see your friends and it’s great and you love every minute of it and then...
...the next wave hits. So your time on the beach is done. You roll back into the absolute darkness of the sea once again. Back into the darkness of the sea, where you’d just spent those 13B years obliviously rolling towards the shore, and now you’re rolling back away from it, returning wave by returning wave. And just as your first time through on your way to the shore, you can’t feel anything, you can’t see anything and once again you don’t even know you’re there or even exist.
I have no idea what happens 13B years later when you get back to that original starting point, but that is the journey of life, people.
(Polite bow to my audience)
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