The View from the End: The Scientist

There are less than 17 hours left now before it's all gone. Everything we've built, every human being will soon be wiped out.

I've chosen to spend these last hours alone at sea. This is where I'll get the best view of the end. After all, how often do scientists get to observe an extinction-level event?

I suspect most people turn to religion or God at a time like this. They seek comfort in the idea that our destruction has some sort of significance. Not me.
I was never a particularly religious or spiritual person. I always thought that one day we'd be able to explain it all; where we came from, what our purpose is, what happens when we die. I feel disappointment in never having answered those big questions.

I'm expecting nothing once I die. No bright light to walk toward, no reunions with loved ones, and certainly no answers. Just the end.

Does that seem morbid? Frightening even? The fear of death seems illogical to me. I see death as a reason to make the most of our time, not something to spend a lifetime trying to avoid.

Still, in times like this I admit I do wonder. What if I'm wrong? What if there is something after we die?

That doesn't need to imply anything supernatural. What if the passing of our consciousness to another realm is something completely natural? What if the universe as we understand it is only a small portion of existence?

My curiosity is definitely piqued. The answer will come soon enough I suppose.

I wonder if this is what my ancestors thought before they left Earth. Theirs was a self-inflicted destruction, but that doesn't matter. They faced the end of their world and found a way off it. Little did they know coming here would doom humanity.

My wife used to say "It doesn't matter how you die, only that you do it without regret." We never had children. That's the one thing I regret as I face death. I can't even explain why. Something about the idea of not having passed on my genetic code irks me. Not because we couldn't, but because we never got the chance. It's hard to believe that in a society so advanced, people are still so careless. If death is really the end, hers came far too soon.

You might say we were the perfectly opposite couple: me a scientist and her a priestess. I wonder what she would say to me at a time like this. What would she tell our son or daughter about what's going to happen?

Interesting... I never thought I'd think this way. Facing the end of everything has a way of making your mind wander in unexpected ways.

Originally published at sensorscans.com