There is no right path.
These principles began with a question: what to do? Turns out the question was wrong.
We can only see so much from our current vantage point. Thinking increases our odds of hitting an aim, but doing refines the aim itself.
What might we achieve, if we were working towards the best possible aim?
Exactly.
That's what matters. It's the slope of our lives, not the absolute value. What we're doing is irrelevant, so long as we're working towards the best future we can think of.
We need to know "why", so we can see a path forward. We need to know "how", so we can make progress along this path. All else is a rounding error.
Think of everyone who came before. Think of the unbelievable gifts they left behind. These people laid down their lives, despite the risk, for our sake. Was their sacrifice in vain? Will we waste what they've given us?
Right now, as we speak, there's a kid sitting in their bedroom somewhere. They have the potential to change the world. To cure new diseases, or terraform new planets, or discover new phenomena that shift our understanding of reality.
And yet, they're being tempted with nihilism, and cynicism, and self-fulfilling pessimism.
We need to give them hope.
Maybe that's our job. To create overwhelming, undeniable evidence that tomorrow can be better than today. To make things better, for ourselves, then our families, then our communities, and then all of humanity. No matter what.
And then, maybe, that kid will do the same.
He might follow in our footsteps, and move humanity further forward. She might set an example for her peers, or friends, or children to follow.
And together, we might each weave our lives into the tapestry of history.
Entropy won't go easy on us.
Inevitable processes of decay, from the far reaches of the universe and the depths of our own hearts, will make things seem bleak.
They'll try to force our hand, and remove all hope, and allow weakness and resentment to win.
But they'll have to kill us first.
- Will