Imagine this scenario.
Sometime before your birth, you are having a conversation (of some type, in some setting, just use your imagination) with someone about your future life in a place called Earth.
You: “And this Earth, it’s supposed to be beautiful, right? With glorious landscapes and fresh air and it has seasons? This planet is situated just the exact right distance from the sun to sustain life? And there are oceans and mountains, rivers and seashores, farms and villages and cities? You can spend your days fishing or mountain-climbing or flying a kite? And the food is incredible, every kind imaginable?”
He: “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
You: “You know this is preposterous, don’t you?”
He: “Why?”
You: “Because look around at the rest of the universe. There is nothing like it. In the entire Galaxy, do you see another planet just like that? They are all balls of stone or globes of fire or poisonous gases.”
He: “That’s right.”
You: “That’s why I have difficulty believing in earth. There is nothing like it in the universe, nothing to prepare me for believing in Earth.”
He: “Not only is there an Earth, but it is so perfect, once you get there, you can live in peace and comfort all your days–three score and ten and possibly beyond–without a single thought as to how it’s all happening. If you like, you can spend your existence studying, say, the life of Abraham Lincoln or even trying to become a leader like him, and never wonder about the air you breathe, the spinning of the Earth on its axis, the orbit it’s taking around the sun, the condition of the sun, or the journey of the Galaxy throughout the universe.”
You: “None of that? I don’t have to worry about how this is happening? I can just get on with living?”
He: “That’s right.”
You: “That’s preposterous.”
He: “I know. Isn’t it wonderful?”
The word preposterous comes from pre meaning “before” and posterous meaning “to come after” (think “posterior”). Something that is both “before and after” at the same time might be said to be reversed or backward. In other words, absurd.
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