Conversations with my Dog, Number 7493 – “Tiny Specks”
ME: Check out this picture. Every one of those tiny specks of light is a galaxy.
DOG: So?
ME: Do you know what a galaxy is?
DOG: No and I don’t care so please don’t explain it to me.
ME: A galaxy is a collection of billions of stars, all clustered together by the force of gravity I guess.
DOG: All I heard was bla bla bla bla.
ME: This light came from like 12 billion years ago, before our galaxy was even formed. So before our galaxy, there were already like an infinite number of galaxies formed. I know you don’t really understand time, but…
DOG: I understand time. There’s bed time. There’s wake up time. There’s breakfast time. There’s walk time. Then there’s chase the ball time. There’s nap time. There’s next nap time. There’s bark at the birds time. There’s another nap time. Then there’s bark at the mail man time. Then there’s you come home time. Then there’s cuddle time. And second chase the ball time. Then there’s dinner time. Another walk time. Another nap time. Then bed time again. Time goes in a circle.
ME: Yeah, you have absolutely no understanding of time at all. All that, what you just said, is your own puny ego, and your own trivial little schedule. That’s not time. That’s just like, your routine.
DOG: So what is time?
ME: I really have no idea. I guess it’s movement of some kind.
DOG: Yes, like I said, it moves in a circle. We move out of the bed. We go downstairs. We eat breakfast. We go for a walk. And then we do it all again. Time is repetition of events.
ME: You’re wrong. Time is an arrow. It’s an ever moving forward. Onward and upward. On and on and on. 13 billion years.
DOG: Time is a circle. Time is an arrow. What difference does it make? Who cares?
ME: I don’t know. I look at this image of the tiny specks, each one being a galaxy, and I find it impossible to comprehend. I mean, do you know how big a galaxy is?
DOG: Yeah, you just told me. A galaxy is the size of a tiny speck. It doesn’t seem like anything to get worked up about. A bunch of tiny specks in a picture.
ME: You have no concept of scale. I mean, if that speck is a whole galaxy, do you know what that makes you? A very puny little dog, my friend.
DOG: I’m a big dog.
ME: You’re not a big dog. You weigh 13 pounds.
DOG: I’m bigger than a squirrel.
ME: Barely. But my point is, even if you were the biggest animal on earth, what is that, the sperm whale? Even the sperm whale is a tiny little atom on this map that could never be detected. I mean, the vastness of the universe. Isn’t it just….overwhelming.
DOG: No. It’s underwhelming. I always thought the universe was way bigger. I mean, how big is this picture, 4 inches? I’m underwhelmed.
ME: That’s because you don’t understand scale.
DOG: I’m glad I don’t understand scale. If it’s just going to make me miserable like you. I mean, what good is it, all this thinking and terminology? What’s it supposed to accomplish? Can’t we just go outside and play? What are you doing?
ME: I’m trying to understand something.
DOG: What? What is there to understand?
ME: These tiny specks.
