A Blip

We think the universe is about 13.8 billion years old.

If we laid that out on the ground at 13.8 miles, your lifetime is about 1/2 an inch. If we put 13.8 billion years into a 24-hour day, all of human civilization shows up in the last blink before 11:59:59.

We think the universe is about 93 billion light-years across.

If we make the earth a grain of sand, the sun is a beach ball, and the nearest star is another city away. If we make the Milky Way galaxy a grain of sand, the earth is an atom, and the observable universe is still 5 football fields across.

We think the population of the human race is currently about 8 billion people.

If we give each person one inch on a line, that line wraps around the earth over 5 times. If we count a person per second, we’d be counting for 260 years.

You are a blip. I am a blip.

The crack of the snare drum is a blip. The snap of the camera shutter is a blip. The wink from across the room is a blip. The squeeze of a hand is a blip. The first inhale of cold, fresh air is a blip. The strike of a match is a blip.

A blip can still make a difference.