Does the Creator Even Know We Exist?

Lost In An Unimaginably Large Universe

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The Universe is Big

To say the universe is big, really, really big, is a gross understatement. Its size is essentially incomprehensible -- The observable universe is approximately 93 billion light years in diameter! "Observable" because light beyond that distance hasn't had time to reach the Earth so no one knows it's true size or shape. It could be much, much larger, some even say -- infinite. The image below is the Hubble deep field view. It's one 24th millionth of the whole sky. Each speck of light is an entire galaxy! There are an estimated 3,000 galaxies in this view yet if you held a grain of sand on the tip of your finger on an outstretched arm and held it up, it would completely block out this area of the sky.

The Hubble deep field view, about one 24-millionth of the whole sky. Each spec of light a Galaxy!

As of 2023, the largest structure in the universe is the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall, a galaxy filament that stretches nearly 10 billion light years! Play the animation to see what galaxy filaments might look like.

Just to put a little perspective on the numbers used in discussions about the universe, consider that one million seconds is 1 week and 5 days. One billion seconds is 31 years and 9 months. One trillion seconds is 31,710 years! Light travels at 300,000 km (186,282 m) per second. Given the circumference of the Earth is about 40,075 km (24,901 m), that's fast enough to cover the distance around the Earth 7.48 times in one second. The fastest human made object is the Parker Solar Probe which reached 635,266 kph (394,736 mph) or roughly 0.0588% the speed of light. The age of the universe is estimated to be 13.82 billion years old. Earth about 4.54 billion. If the Earth's age were a 24 hour clock, humans wouldn't appear until 11:58:43 pm. Temperatures in space range from minus 275 C (459F) to unknown levels. Energetic neutrinos have been observed to the equivalent of 50 billion degrees Kelvin. So, it's almost humanly impossible to comprehend the times, distances, speeds, and temperatures in the universe and we are all a tiny, tiny part of it.

Does the Creator Know We're Here?

We don't know of course but it seems highly unlikely that it would. Consider the following:

It's hard to come up with a metaphor that accurately describes how small and insignificant humankind is in the whole scheme of the universe -- on the cosmic level, we're just not that special. (Click for help on How Big?)
As we have discussed, the universe was created in a chaotic process where the initial conditions have a tremendous effect on the entire process as well as the outcome. It would be very difficult to predict the end result let alone trying to create something as specific as humankind in the process.
If the Creator were actually God, why create trillions of worlds, civilizations, and species? Would we really expect him to have an intimate knowledge and involvement with each and every creature? -- Listen to their every need or desire? -- Our prayers?

An Afterlife

We live in the Milky Way, a spiral galaxy which is about 100,000 light years across. It's estimated that there are about 150 billion stars in our galaxy and about 2 trillion galaxies in the "observable" universe. We say observable because we know there is more beyond the cosmic horizon we can't see but the light from beyond that 46.1 billion year horizon hasn't reached us yet.

Based on the recent Kepler space mission data, researchers estimate that there could be as many as 40 billion Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars and red dwarfs just within the Milky Way -- That's just one galaxy and remember, there are potentially 2 trillion galaxies! With just sheer numbers alone, there have got to be many other intelligent civilizations out there. Given our planet is only about 4.54 billion years old, some of those civilizations may be millions or billions of years more advanced.

According to a new study in The Astrophysical Journal, scientists conservatively estimate that if an Earth-like planet forms in an Earth-like orbit around a Sun-like star, hosting a civilization that develops technologically in a similar way to humans, there would be approximately 36 Earth-like "civilizations" just in the Milky Way (6 billion Earth like planets) -- of course there is no reason alien civilizations have to be anything Earth or human-like. However, multiply 36 times the 2 trillion galaxies and that's still a lot of people!

Consider the impact that mankind has had on the universe. Imagine that all of mankind inhabited a film covering a single grain of sand. Consider that is sits among all the grains of sand on all the beaches, the sea bottom, and all the deserts of the Earth. Mankind's importance to the universe is no more impactful than that single grain of sand and the film that covers it. We are little more than a nearly invisible speck in an unimaginably large space. That's not to say we're not extremely important to ourselves. But even taking a step back and looking at Earth from afar, mankind looks more like a fungus, a cancer that's infected the planet. But regardless of how much damage we do to the planet, we're certainly not going to kill it -- we'll simply kill it's ability to support life for the human species, for Homo Sapiens. It will continue to evolve long after the current species have disappeared. Perhaps a new human species will emerge. One who doesn't feel the need to invent a creation story and accepts the fact that certain things in life are simply unknowable.

Take a look at the animation on the left and see if you get the idea that humankind is a little on the small side.

You've never seen so many stars that you never knew existed

Our position is that the Creator doesn't know we exist. There is no personal relationship; it doesn't hear our prayers, it doesn't care if we've lost a loved one, that we have a sick child, it doesn't care if our favorite team wins this weekend, or wins a war halfway around the world. And the "power" of prayer? Well, seems the only power in prayer is to give the person doing the praying a false sense of satisfaction in thinking they are doing some good in a situation they have no control over whatsoever. It may seem a shame but is more logical that we are just on our own and continue on with our lives without depending on God's help.

At this point you may be wondering; if we're not all that special, why are we here, if not here, where? Is there something beyond this life? -- Something after death?

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