This might all seem pessimistic.
We've just established the cruel, indifferent brutality of nature, and the ever-present capacity for evil that exists in all of us.
How can we possibly have hope, in the face of all this?
By accepting the inevitability of suffering, and extracting the feedback from it.
Nature is a harsh teacher, but it shows us the flaws in our ideas.
Malevolence can destroy us, but it also helps us notice our blind spots and vulnerabilities.
This is difficult to acknowledge (and nobody does it perfectly).
But the only thing more painful is the alternative.