For anyone who knows me, it's no secret that I despise much about this world, and spend a lot of time wishing I could live somewhere else.  We've all been there to one extent or another.  Who among us hasn't wished she/he could live in Equestria?  Quite frankly, I often feel like I don't belong in this sh*thole.  Most days, I would describe myself as a nihilistic misanthrope.  The thing is, I see a lot of potential in this world, and in our species, but 99% of it has gone unrealized.  I've often pondered why that is, and I have a hypothesis.  It's more of a connection of existing dots, really.

I call it the Default Position.  By default, everything is this universe is garbage.  Hear me out on this.  The laws of physics have generated a universe in which, by default, everything is basically as bad as it can possibly be.  This is evident all around us, from the cosmic scale to the microscopic, from inanimate objects to emotions.  Think about it--it's easier to hate than to love.  It's easier to lose trust than to gain it.  It's easier to lose one's temper than to stay patient.  It's easier to destroy than to create.  It's easier to not learn a thing than to learn a thing.  It's easier to be confused than to understand.  It's easier to let oneself go than to exercise.  It's easier to do nothing than to do something.  We live in a universe where entropy is always increasing.  The existence of life is a constant struggle against entropy, and in the end, entropy will always win.  It has to.  Things exist in the state they do because the universe allows it to be so, and things only have to be just good enough to exist, and no better.  Living things need only be just good enough to get their genes into the next generation, and no better.  This is how evolution works.  Each species evolves to be just good enough to survive and no better.  Competition between species ensures that the best and fittest will survive, which would seem to be the opposite of what I'm arguing, but I submit that it's not if we look a little deeper.  There is no evolutionary reason for any species to be any better than it needs to be to get its genes into the next generation.  The gazelle needs only be just a little faster than the cheetah, and it will survive.  If the cheetah then evolves to be faster, than the gazelle will evolve to keep pace, or die.  Each species only needs to be just fast enough to catch prey, or outrun predators, and no faster.  Species basically stop evolving if they can continue to pass their genes along with no resistance.  Therefore, living things are essentially as bad as they can possibly be while continuing to be just good enough to reproduce.  There's no reason for anything to evolve beyond that.  This is why humans are, by default, rather dumb, and rather weak.  There's no evolutionary reason for us to evolve to be significantly smarter or stronger than what is needed to survive, and so we're not.  And of course, our species has created a unique phenomenon: de-evolution.  Through society and technology, we have ensured that anyone can pass their genes to the next generation, no matter how stupid, weak, disabled, sick, or genetically inferior.  We are capable of making future generations worse than ourselves.  No other species is capable of this phenomenon.

It is only by enormous effort that anything is made better.  Whether it's bettering ourselves physically or mentally, or creating something great, it all requires great energy.  When we learn something new, work out at the gym, build something, or compose a great song, we are fighting against the default state of the universe, and rising beyond the intended purposes of our evolution.  After all, we are evolved to survive on the plains of the Serengeti--to be able to look at something at a glance and immediately ascertain if we can mate with it, if we can eat it, or if it's going to eat us.  We aren't evolved to write literature, compose music, or build large hadron colliders.  It is a remarkable achievement that we were able to take these ape brains and make some pretty great stuff with them.  It's astounding how far we've come given our biology and ancestry, but it's only by directing incredible effort and energy in opposition to the default position that we have been able to get here.  Everything worth doing takes great effort, and the majority of efforts fail.  We've all heard of Sturgeon's Law:  Most creations are garbage, and it requires many, many failures before we get anything right.  We can make things great, but that's not how things are by default.  Nothing is good by default, and we have to put in the effort to change that for a brief time during our little blip of an existence.

Unfortunately, humans, by default, are not well equipped to succeed in this project of making a great world for all of us.  I would argue that our minds are tuned wrong--we seem naturally inclined to be largely intolerant or fearful of anything that's different, we seem inclined to be irrational and create divisive belief systems like religion, we seem naturally inclined towards tribalism, and we seem inclined to make decisions based on feelings rather than logic and evidence.  In point of fact, we actually do many things that are guaranteed to make our lives worse.  We must work hard to correct these natural tendencies, which can definitely be done, but requires great effort.  We have made a lot of headway, but not nearly as much as we could if this project wasn't met with constant resistance from the universe.

I spend an inordinate amount of time wishing I could live in a universe with unimaginably different laws of physics in which everything is spectacular by default, and it takes more effort to f*ck things up than to fix them.  It's almost impossible to imagine this, because we can't even conceive of such a universe, because it probably is, in fact, impossible.  I hate to leave things on a sour note, and I try not to in all of my writings.  However, I don't see a whole lot of silver lining, here.  I don't believe there's some grand answer or solution.  The fact is that the universe, and everything in it, is basically junk be default, and if we want a nice world to live in, then we must put in the work and effort to fight against the default position.