We Too Are Stardust
IB Philosophy SL
Jostein Gaarder captures the essence of human life and the origin of human purpose in the final pages of his novel, Sophie’s World, with the line, “We too are stardust,” (505). Just prior to this semi-conclusive revelation, Albert asks Sophie about the mystery of the waves in the water, a result of Alberto and Sophie’s recently attained spiritual status. The very fact that Albert and Hilde, and Alberto and Sophie, are convinced of their existences is evidence of the lasting perplexity of “true” existence, free will, and significance. To believe that one is merely dust of a star makes one sound completely hopeless and unimportant, but when looked at another way—that we are a piece of a whole…the remains of a dense, explosive, luminous star—we sound like gods. Our origins are a mystery; how can we know them when every conjecture can be looked at from endless numbers of angles? Plotinus states that the struggle of understanding human origins exists because creatures, particularly humans, embody that which they have come from, and so, we are mysteries in-and-of ourselves. He states, “I am saying that there is something of the divine mystery in everything that exists. We can see it sparkle in a sunflower or a poppy…but we are closest to God in our own soul. Only there can we become one with the great mystery of life. In truth, at very rare moments we can experience that we ourselves are that divine mystery,” (295). Interestingly, this theory of Plotinus resonates with me, because I think that if what people say about fear is true—that fear is founded in the unknown or mystery—and we ourselves are the “unknown”, then there is nothing to fear, because we live daily under a contradictory illusion. Therefore, nothing should keep a human from exercising his philosophical thinking and trying to attain an understanding of himself unless he is satisfied with his notion that he is in control, even if in reality, he is not.
IB Philosophy SL
Jostein Gaarder captures the essence of human life and the origin of human purpose in the final pages of his novel, Sophie’s World, with the line, “We too are stardust,” (505). Just prior to this semi-conclusive revelation, Albert asks Sophie about the mystery of the waves in the water, a result of Alberto and Sophie’s recently attained spiritual status. The very fact that Albert and Hilde, and Alberto and Sophie, are convinced of their existences is evidence of the lasting perplexity of “true” existence, free will, and significance. To believe that one is merely dust of a star makes one sound completely hopeless and unimportant, but when looked at another way—that we are a piece of a whole…the remains of a dense, explosive, luminous star—we sound like gods. Our origins are a mystery; how can we know them when every conjecture can be looked at from endless numbers of angles? Plotinus states that the struggle of understanding human origins exists because creatures, particularly humans, embody that which they have come from, and so, we are mysteries in-and-of ourselves. He states, “I am saying that there is something of the divine mystery in everything that exists. We can see it sparkle in a sunflower or a poppy…but we are closest to God in our own soul. Only there can we become one with the great mystery of life. In truth, at very rare moments we can experience that we ourselves are that divine mystery,” (295). Interestingly, this theory of Plotinus resonates with me, because I think that if what people say about fear is true—that fear is founded in the unknown or mystery—and we ourselves are the “unknown”, then there is nothing to fear, because we live daily under a contradictory illusion. Therefore, nothing should keep a human from exercising his philosophical thinking and trying to attain an understanding of himself unless he is satisfied with his notion that he is in control, even if in reality, he is not.
It is also the divine mystery within our souls that makes us inquire about where we came from, where we are going, why we are here, etc. This connects to Kant, whose views are paraphrased by Alberto in, “But it will always be an attribute of human reason to ask where the ball comes from. That’s why we ask and ask, we exert ourselves to the fullest to find answers to all the deepest questions.” (326). Human life is undeniably valuable—it is a privilege just to be alive! In a sense, life begins without us; it gets a head start and we must catch up. Human memory is not capable of remembering an infant’s birth, so how could it grasp or innately carry the knowledge of human origin and destination?
To me, the most provocative idea presented in Sophie’s World is the question of whether human life is or is no significant. Kant fills in this gap of unknown with faith in God (as did many of the philosophers studied…), Albert tried to answer is quantitatively through science when discussing the Big Bang, and Sophie and Alberto find that their significance is rooted in their ability to be free and thinking beings, much like Descartes. Using the metaphor of a star, I think Gaarder is not only trying to address the origins of human life and existence, but also emphasizing the relative insignificance and significance one individual can have in both their reality and in the universe when they look at their existence with an assortment of rational, logical, or empirical perspectives. To be a part of something as beautiful and magnificent as a star invokes a sense of responsibility to uphold that image and live up to its standards, because we know that we have a purpose in life, even if that purpose is left up to us to find or create. It is what we do with our lives that count. thanks -j
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