What No Man’s Sky has taught me about the universe

The universe just doesn’t care does it?

Hand on a second let me explain.

I’ve played No Man’s Sky, the big new game out at the moment, for far too many hours in the past couple days. I have no regrets however, I’ve loved every moment I’ve spent with the game.

For anyone who doesn’t know what it is, it’s a massive sci-fi epic featuring a computer generated universe of 18 quintillion planets. That number is so large it is devoid of meaning. Instead let me point out that spending a second on each planet in the game would take more time than our real life sun has left to live. Ninety-nine percent of the game will never be seen by players.

Exploring such a universe has been a childhood dream for most of my life. Flying around space in my ship, and landing on any planet I wish, and then marveling at the animals and lifeforms I find. In my head it’s the perfect game. But what’s it like in person?

It’s still amazing. It’s humbling, magical and beautiful. I’ve noticed however that unlike many other games that throw challenges at you and try to kill you, this game just doesn’t care about you. Sure it has obstacles. It has harsh extreme planets and animals that would happily eat you for lunch. Likewise it also has planets full of lush life and beautiful oceans and lagoons of idyllic, colorful animals.

As you walk around, life goes on, animals go about their daily lives, cargo ships fly past and stations hum and whir like any other day.

I had a revelation at this point. Our universe in real life feels just like this. Or at least what I’ve experienced of it. It is not trying to kill you, it is not trying to make your life better. It’s just continuing, and whether you have a bad day or not, it will carry on.

I wonder how it makes me feel then, the idea that I live in a universe indifferent to my existence. In the video game it makes me feel like I’m part of something much larger that feels like it could exist without me. It could mean that in real life. It devalues my life, but leaves me in awe at the universe.

It exists, not good or bad, full of the most magical things you can imagine.