The Urge for the Trivial

Ever feel like you just need to do something?

I mean something entirely trivial, something devoid of any real consequence. Take this blog post, for example—my abuse of the enter button for a new line, my absolute reliance on em-dashes. All of this is trivial. In the grand scheme of things, these digital musings will never be recorded by history. Instead, they will be forgotten, lost to the great wasteland of the internet, resting quietly until the day they are routinely purged from a server database to save a few megabytes of space.

I am not a nihilist. However, it is what it is.

The Law of Macro-Significance
Since we are not cowards, let us look at this reality as a fundamental law of the universe. Let us pretend that The Law is simply this: Nothing matters, except that which affects everyone.

Think of it like the principles of thermodynamics applied to human action. A single drop of warm water thrown into the ocean dissipates instantly, changing nothing about the tide. But a massive shift in global currents alters the climate for everything living within it. If we accept this utilitarian law of scale, then we have to—and I mean have to—ask the difficult question.

If nothing we do on a personal scale really matters, then what is it that we do that does matter? How can an individual possibly matter?

This naturally invites a barrage of secondary questions.

Do I even actually care?

Does it matter if I only think I matter?

Do I genuinely want history to notice me?

We will answer these in due time.

The Mechanics of Meaning
If the baseline is that nothing inherently matters, how do we find meaning for ourselves?

We have to define meaning in this context first. I declare meaning as the engine that simply drives us forward. It is the psychological momentum that gets us out of bed. But if what we do lacks cosmic importance, then what is the actual point of that momentum?

Is it personal gain? Is it purpose? And if it is purpose, a purpose for what exactly? A squirrel gathers nuts with the purpose of surviving the winter, but it does not ask if surviving the winter changes the forest.

Grandiosity and Chaos
Are we going grandiose here to find that scale? Let us run a thought experiment and say I am running for president.

Sure, I live in Canada and we have a Prime Minister here, but fuck it, I am bold. I am running for president. Now, suddenly, what I do matters. Every single decision is held up to the light, weighed against countless other variables, all in a desperate, exhausting attempt to bring order to the inherent chaos of human society. It is the ultimate illusion of control.

I say let it reign.

Let chaos have its moment in the sun. The systems we build to enforce order are fragile, and perhaps it is time we let the entropy wash over them and hit the reset button.

My personal momentum going forward?
I look forward to being around to witness the Great Filter take effect.