Does anything we do actually matter?

A short inquiry.

Does anything we do actually matter?

Jordan Peterson recently did a podcast with Lex Fridman that you can watch here. They discuss many interesting topics including what matter is. Jordan says:

Matter isn't dead dust. I don't know what it is. I have no idea what it is. Matter is what matters.

Yes. What is ‘matter’?

https://soulfocusedhealing.com/the-human-energy-field/

Matter is the stuff composed of atoms that has mass and takes up space. This includes well, pretty much anything you can think of that can be ‘touched’. The first interesting conceptual idea that comes to my mind when I hear this definition is that this necessarily implies that there must be a ‘space’ in the first place. But even more interesting to me, is the exquisitely thought-provoking concept of touch, because it involves not simply the ‘physical’ interaction between two objects with mass, but an exchange of energy between the things touching. Energy is more about work - kinetic (moving) or potential (stored). But I don’t want this article to get too ‘physics-sy’ and what I currently know about bioenergy could probably fit into the palm of my hand.

I like how matter and energy is described in the following quote in the context of the ecosystem, since this is our so-called ‘living space’ that holds all of this wonderful matter and subsequently, all of the things that LIVE.

But the truth is that ecosystems are mostly an area where there are lots of complex flows of matter and energy. Matter is the physical stuff that the universe is made out of; the things that you can touch and weigh on a scale. Matter takes up space. This includes gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide. Energy is hard to define, but it could be described as the resources necessary to do any kind of physical work, including changing its form. The faster you throw a ball, the more energy it has. And the hotter a cup of tea, the more energy it has.

It turns out that according to physics, matter and energy are really the same thing in different forms. Matter can turn into energy, and energy can turn into matter. So when matter enters a system, that system has also gained energy.¹

At the risk of falling into a very deep hole of unanswered questions, let’s return to the original one: Does anything we do actually matter? Let’s assume that in the context of this question, that of the many things that matter (like love), matter itself, matters.

In trying to assess this, my brain took me to the example of a chemical company that produces trillions of metric tons of chemical waste in the form of ‘forever chemicals’ - matter - over a short time span. These are the types of organic compounds that do not break down through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes. Because of their persistence, these Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)² bioaccumulate with potential irreversible adverse impacts on human health and our environment.

So, does this not mean that humans are introducing persistent ‘novel’ pollutants as matter into the ecosystem - into space itself - that would not have been there otherwise? And had we not imposed the matter waste onto our ecosystem, would the potential detrimental effects never have been imposed?

Granted, the matter that comprises the persistent pollutants certainly existed in ‘nature’ already, but the way in which these forever chemicals are cooked up together and then released into the ecosystem is not ‘naturally-occurring’ - ie: they wouldn’t be there in such concentrated amounts, if we had not put them there.

This means that we are actually changing things. Doesn’t it?

The impact of our negligent and destructive actions is obvious when one considers that we are imposing our destructive habits on all the other living things on this planet - and the planet itself - that would otherwise evolve and exist based on all respective inherent infrastructures in a ‘natural way’, if not for our behaviour.

We are changing things. And, in my opinion, not in the favor of life.

The next place my brain took me to was necessarily associated with codon optimization and gain-of-function research. Altering the genetic code of an ‘organism’ is also, an imposition on the natural evolution of nature. If in no other way, rate-wise - as in, maybe it would have happened anyway, but in ‘due time’.

Therefore, to me, this means that we are in control, to some degree, of our destiny. We are shaping our world by the choices we are making every single day. And not to be a negative nelly, but in my opinion, we are destroying ourselves and all on and in this planet, by choice.

So the answer to the question ‘Does anything we do actually matter?’ is, in my opinion, a resounding YES.

And don’t get me started on anti-matter.

1. https://study.com/academy/lesson/types-of-matter-energy-changes-in-an-ecosystem.html

2. https://www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/persistent-organic-pollutants-global-issue-global-response