Starting Course - Section 2
Other People

Our Story

The story of the universe involves all of us

and the universe needs all of us! 

 

My existence began at the moment of my conception,

when an egg from my mother,

joined with a seed from my father.

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We now know with certainty that this is how every human being began,

as a single cell organism,

growing within the body of another human being.

 

That is amazing, wonderful,

almost impossible to comprehend, 

and beautifully true.

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My awareness of the universe has expanded 

from that first moment of my existence

to this moment.

 

My knowledge of self is different now as an adult,

but even before I had developed this greater sense of self,

I had an awareness of my existence.

 

I am aware of the sensations I experienced starting within the womb,

and throughout my childhood,

to the courses I took in school,

and all the events which I experienced in my life,

up to the present moment.

 

All of my history is a part of me now, in this present moment.

 

The certainty of my journey,

your certainty of your journey,

from conception to this moment,

is absolute, 100% true, undeniable.

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Yet, our individuality presents a great personal and social challenge.

A Problem?

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Throughout human history, 

right up to and including the present, 

the certainty of self has presented each person with a problem.

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How do I deal with other people?

 

I am 100% certain that I exist,

but what about you?

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The fact that I exist, 

and continue to exist,

means that I take care of myself or, to say it another way,

I must be self-centered to some degree.  

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Every human being needs to be self-centered to survive.  

At the bare minimum, to continue to exist, 

I must take care of my bodily needs and functions.  

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But why should I care about,

or take care of,

other people?
 

Why should I take care of you or any others?

 

This question extends further than simply caring for those close to me.

The problem goes all the way to caring for everyone to some degree,

from the person closest to me,

to the person most removed from me in my life.

 

Why should I care about, or for, everyone, 

such as someone on the other side of the world?

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The answer has to do with creation,

the certainty of others

and power.

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Creation 

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I have made the claim,

or stated as fact,

that you and I, each individual human, creates the universe.

 

This creation is continuous.

 

I did not create the universe in the past,

but rather, 

I create the universe in the continuous moment. 

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If I did not exist, the universe would not exist.

My existence is critical to the universe.

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Equally, if you did not exist, the universe would not exist.

Your existence is critical to the universe.

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I am 100% certain that I exist.

But what about you?

How certain can I be that you exist?

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Other People or the certainty of you, the other person!
 

The thing with a level of certainty just slightly less than “I am” 

is that something, 

and someone, existed before me.  

 

The matter from which I am made, 

and the thoughts, language, and emotions I feel, 

all exist within me, 

within the context of this body in which I exist.  

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But I must then ask:

How did I get started?  

How did I come into being?  

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Obviously, study of the question of the beginning

and nature of the universe is a big question, 

which you can dig into

in other sections of this webpage if you are interested.  

 

The questions of the scientific or religious origins of the universe

involve the great questions like:

How and when the universe got started?

How did life begin?

How did conscious, sentient beings come into existence? 

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All of the knowledge of our origins contains a great deal of uncertainty!

 

What we have done thus far in this discussion

is try to understand my and your individual existence

in relation to the universe.

 

Now we want to turn to the question of other people’s existence.  

 

What is the level of certainty that other humans exist?

 

In the universe, others like me existed before me: 

biological parents and caretakers.

I am 100% certain that without them I would not exist.  

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Say it to yourself:

"I am 100% certain that without them I would not exist." 

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“I need others in order for me to exist.”

Or another way to say it:

“Without others I would not exist.”

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You need others in order for you to exist.  

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Parents

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In this discussion parent refers to biological parent

and the term caretakers can be considered narrowly and broadly.  

 

On a narrow basis, parent and caretaker implies that

once I was conceived,

after the seed from my father and the egg from my mother joined,

a woman was necessary

to hold me within her body for the first part of my life.  

 

Once I leave my mother’s body, she, 

or someone else, 

must care for me:

a caretaker.

 

On a broader caretaking basis, 

the things I need to exist (food, clothing, shelter, society, culture, etc.) 

require others to exist.  

 

While there are many ‘things’ which must exist, 

for now we want to keep our focus on other people, 

their importance, 

and the certainty of their existence.  

 

Here is where it gets interesting.  

 

I know with absolute certainty that I exist, 

just as you know with absolute certainty that you exist.  

 

It is the uncertainty of the other person, 

you of me and me if you, 

that is problematic in human relations.  

 

You are reading these words, 

so you are obviously in existence at this moment.  

 

You may not know if I still exist, 

but you know that I existed at some moment in time.

 

The fact that other human beings exist,

carries the next highest level of certainty of any fact in the universe.

 

Absolute truth – 100% certainty:
I am.

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Almost absolute truth –
99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

99999999999999999999999999999999999999999...% certainty:

you are.

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Without others I would not exist, 

therefore, others exist.

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That I still exist validates you and your existence.

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These 3 truths, 

I am, 

I need others to exist, 

others exist, 

lead to many important places.

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Necessity and Equality 

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This certainty of me “I am who am” and the certainty of you,

brings us to the main goal,

or driving principle, of this website:

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I can create a flourishing global civilization that will bring me happiness.

But I am not alone.

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You can create a flourishing global civilization that will bring you happiness.

But you are not alone.

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We need each other for the universe to exist and for us individually to exist.

No individual is of greater importance than any other individual.

 

Every human being is equal as a human being!  
We all started as one tiny little cell.

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There is no one greater or lesser than me.

There is no one greater or lesser than you.

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We each equally and individually create the universe.

We each equally and individually are the universe.

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We each, individually and collectively, create the universe.

This is equality of existence.  

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I am a unique being, 

with the whole universe around me

and existing inside of me.

 

You can say the same thing 

and it is true

with the exact same certainty.
 

I am the soul inhabiting this body.

You are the soul inhabiting your body.

 

I am made up of a body, 

with a mind, emotions, 

and a unique personality,

just as you are also.

 

I am equal to you, 

and you are equal to me.  

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My knowledge and experience of you,

and your knowledge and experience of me, 

is equal in every way.  

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We need each other.

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Because the universe happens to only one person at a time,

in the continuous moment, 

it could be said, that in a way, there are multiple universes, 

as many as there were, are, and will be people.  

 

(Footnote: A fascinating modern physics theory revolves around the idea of multiple universes, with an infinite number of them existing.  Based on theoretical analysis, and some limited observations, this notion of multiple universes appears to have some plausibility in physics.  

It is possible that this phenomenon comes from our individual experience of the universe.)  

 

As strange as this sounds,

pause for a moment,

and try to see things from my perspective if you can.

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Can you see things from my perspective,

the perspective of anyone,

or as any other person sees them?  

 

Consider my perspective.  

 

At this writing, I am over 60 years old, 

which means that I have experienced over 2 billion seconds, or moments, in life.  

(60 yrs. x 365 days x 24 hrs. x 60 min. x 60 sec. = 1.9 billion seconds).  

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In each of those moments I have had experiences unique to me.  

Even in moments when I shared an experience with another person, 

my perspective and reaction was my own.  

 

No individual person has experienced the universe quite like another person.  

Does that mean the universe only exists to me, as I have stated?  

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This discussion may seem somewhat contrary to what I have just said 

about the universe existing only to me.  

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However, that is a problem with our limited minds

or rather, 

our system of human reasoning and logic. 

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Interestingly, both the problem of understanding other people, 

and my human reasoning and logic, 

go away when I cease to exist in this universe.

My mind leaves this universe with me.  

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That brings us to the next idea which is important to understand,

as we get started on this journey toward happiness and flourishing,

our power to create.

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Power

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The most important place this information leads us to

is an understanding of our power.

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This understanding of self,

this knowledge of me and you,

leads us to a discussion of power.

Which will be the subject of the balance of this lesson.

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I (you) have the power to create and continue the existence of the universe.

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When I die, the universe ceases to exist.

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When every conscious being ceases to exist,

the universe’s self-awareness will end.

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The continued existence of the universe is up to me.

As creator of the universe

I have the power to determine what the universe is like!

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What the universe is like for you, is up to me.

What the universe is like for me, is determined by you.

The nature of the universe is up to me and you.

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That is my power.

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That is your power.  

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It may sound like the power of God, 

it may sound like a crazy idea,

but in a very real sense, 

it is 100% true.

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It is true with more certainty than anything else in the universe.
 

The universe exists only to one person at a time.

 

I am aware of the universe, and thus it exists.

When I am gone from this life, in this universe, 

there is no universe for me.  

 

This was, is, and will be true for every human being,

and when we are all gone,

what we know of the universe will cease to exist.

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When I die, 

no one, including myself, 

knows for certain what will happen next.

 

But I will be gone from this form of existence,

in the universe as I know it today,

in the form I take today.

 

Now, this idea that the universe ends with me may seem strange, 

because it is a bit strange

and it is a wonderful topic of philosophic discussion.

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For now, let it sink in, and accept it.

 

It is wonderfully true, 

that the universe exists to me (you) individually

and it has some serious and powerful implications for all of humanity.  

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Journey with me

as we discuss the importance of this self-centered universe we inhabit, 

the immense power you and I have to create the universe,

the challenges we have in wielding our power,

and how we can create a flourishing universe 

within which we can all be happy.

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