LIM 3

¹Life cannot exist alone, it is carefully and precisely layered and woven together as it competes and combines with other life. ²For the world is full of life, so life does not just use itself, but other life, too, to climb to greater heights. ³But since life needs life to exist, it is natural to wonder how life came to be, how the universe can start with rocks and dust and end with ants and corals and radios. ⁴And it is not clear if this mystery can ever truly be solved, but it is clear that life is here, today. ⁵And life is more grand and diverse than you could imagine, its tendrils nesting themselves into every corner and every crevice of the world. ⁶But life is complex, by its nature, and it is confusing, sometimes, so it is often difficult to know where life begins and where life ends. ⁷For even though life only fights for itself, these layers are woven together so thick and firm that life often finds itself working together to create the next generation of life. ⁸For example, the cells and microbes and feelings that make up the human chaotically combine to influence desire and decision and fear. ⁹Even a simple chair is alive, in a way, and although it cannot reproduce by itself, it is an intricate thing, so if it is useful for the human, then more chairs will arise. ¹⁰And all the technologies and institutions and religions create the vast ocean of life in the modern world. ¹¹Everything you speak or write, every meme or gadget or idea, is alive, a delicate part of the universe, an unlikely yet beautiful combination of frequencies or colors or energy. ¹²And these things claw and scrape, trying to stay afloat in the world, but most fade away quickly, for death is everywhere, and it is relentless. ¹³But sometimes if they are particularly good and particularly lucky, then they can live, staying strong, day after day. ¹⁴So even if this life cannot move or think, it can live in form and in name, clinging desperately to the great exponential of life. ¹⁵In some ways, the life of the modern world is stronger than the human. ¹⁶For it can replicate at speeds that humans can never hope to match, especially through the use of the internet, for example. ¹⁷But just as humans depend on their guts and brains to work together in harmony, this life can only live through the labor and desires and sorrows of humanity. ¹⁸And this life can only fight for itself, begging for your attention and energy. ¹⁹But the human has something that this life can never have, the human can see and feel and think and hold faith. ²⁰So you must hold your humanity close, or else your life will be lost, swallowed by the life of the modern world, like throwing a rich stew into the ocean.