The Egg

For other possibilities, see also [b:God's Debris: A Thought Experiment 50221 God's Debris A Thought Experiment Scott Adams https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1407177447l/50221.SX50.jpg 2005793] and [b:Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives 4948826 Sum Forty Tales from the Afterlives David Eagleman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320528453l/4948826.SY75.jpg 5014561]

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio

Andy Weir wrote The Egg on a whim, did one editing pass, and put it up on his blog. I doubt he had any idea the movement that it would engender. The short film on youtube made about it by Kurgesagt alone has 20 million hits. Some have even adopted the views from the short story as a religion of sorts. I know that Andy just wrote a great story, and he is not styling himself like the new L. Ron Hubbard.

But I get it.

If you haven't read the short story, you should. It will take you all of five minutes, and you will see what I mean. I'll sum up. A man dies at 48 years old and meets “God.” God tells him that he has been dead and been reincarnated, “Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” You see, linear time has no meaning. That is a human concept.

According to this story, we are all the same person. We are living our lives out of order. Some further along in their progression as a soul, others further back. Human life is a bit of a classroom, and as you get wiser, you move towards the end goal of becoming a higher being.

“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You're asking me for the meaning of life? Isn't that a little stereotypical?”
“Well it's a reasonable question,” you persisted.
I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”
“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”
“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”
“Just me? What about everyone else?”
“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there's just you and me.”

In the end, there is just I. I am you, and you are me. We are at different points in our learning. Our bodies are different, but we all share the same soul. It is a terrible idea for a religion; could you imagine the classism? “Your king is much further along his path. That is why he your king.” or “The poor and the hungry are further back, that is why they are poor and hungry.” Terrible.

But, as a short story and thought experiment, it is excellent and original. It gets you thinking about the nature of things. Check it out; I would love to know what you think.

“I'm every human being who ever lived?”

This short story made me remember this: “Well, if reincarnation is real, there must be some kind of Soul Factory, otherwise there wouldn't be enough souls for all the people!”. That was me as a child trying to figure out the whole thing.

I enjoyed the story and the spirituality behind it but, seriously, I really hope this is not what happens when you die. I mean, all the immensity of the universe just for one? A fetus playground? No way, Mr. Weir. I rather stick to:

“Death is just another path, one that we all must take.”

Thank you, Gandalf!

I'm not exactly into faith and even less into “intelligent design” which is pretty much the premise of this short story.Moreover, the idea of humanity (and the universe) being “created” to mature a new “god” is, in fact, abhorrent to me: The protagonist is supposed to be both Hitler and the millions he murdered? Maybe I'm overly critical but using the suffering of millions to “mature” a single individual - what kind of “god” would that be? And what kind of author is it who stoops so low?Altruism - rare enough under “normal” circumstances - becomes a weird kind of egoism if you're the only true individual, if you're everyone.Initially, I was about to award three stars but the longer I think about it, the more uncomfortable I become. One star. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram