I don't know, and that's 'ok'

Is there a god? Did he create this universe? Did he design humankind? Does he answer prayers? When I die, will I continue to 'exist' in an afterlife? If science can trace back the history of life to single celled organisms some 3.7 billion years ago, how did it come about? If science can trace back the history of the universe to a big bang some 13.7 billion years ago, where did this bang come from?

The only honest answer to all of those important questions is: I do not know.

People love a good mystery, but people do not like loose ends. It's rare for a movie to be very popular unless by the end of it, all the questions raised in the movie have been answered, and all the loose ends have been tied. It can be very disconcerting for people to live in a world for which its origins are mysterious. By the end of my personal movie, where I'm the protagonist, will all of these mysteries be solved?

There are three possible solutions to this problem:

• Make up a solution that is satisfying and fits with the way you view the world
• Recognize the mystery and spend time and effort in solving it
• Learn to live with the mystery
  

You must choose one of those three (if I am mistaken, please comment).

Up until recently, I believed that this world was carefully designed by a superior being commonly referred to as God. This was very satisfying for me since I no longer had to worry about the mysteries that I previously mentioned. Unfortunately, it was only satisfying for me as long as I did not consider its plausibility. At first, this solution was not 'made up' as I now have categorized it. It was told to me by authorities I trusted, such as my parents, grandparents, and teacher. Plus, pretty much every person I had ever met had the same view.
The problem is that people make mistakes.

My parents were not lying to me when they said that god created me, they believed it to be true. Where did they get this creation delusion from? Their parents, and so on. So, where did this myth ultimately come from? Some distant ancestor made it up. Why assume that it was made up? I assume it was made up because there would be no way for an ancestor, without the benefits of modern science, to have been able to determine this conclusion on their own. I admit it could have been possible that the creator spoke to an ancestor, in a dream (Abraham), as a burning bush (Moses), or as human incarnate (Jesus Christ). This is a huge problem if you just give it a moment's thought. While this one person can be convinced that God spoke to them, why should anyone believe them? Even today people still claim that God still speaks to them, but thanks to modern science, we can diagnose these people with mental disorders (victims of a malfunctioning brain), or discount them as attention seekers (liars). Where did all the prophets go? Isn't it convenient that Jews, Christians, and Muslims do not expect any prophets to appear? It seems too convenient that all the prophets, and their miracles, all exist in the past, where they cannot be tested with modern science. Why were the Hebrews skeptical of God, just after he split the Red Sea, and performed the 10 plagues? They were so skeptical that they decided to worship a golden calf. These people supposedly witnessed huge miracles with their own eyes. If that was not enough for them, why should we have faith, when we are merely told that these miracles happened? For these reasons, I could not continue to hold a belief in a supernatural creator, especially the creator of the Bible.

So therefore I must be actively searching for the true answers to these mysteries, right? Some have tried this, and still do it. The best example that comes to my mind is Carl Sagan, the famous American astronomer. He wrote and narrated the fantastic documentary called Cosmos. His film explores the origins of the universe, our galaxy, our solar system, Earth, and life. He spent a large part of his exploring these mysteries and educating the public. Carl Sagan definitely falls into this second category. I don't.

Do I not care about the answer? If that were true, I wouldn't be writing this. Do I not have the talent or skill? Maybe, I wouldn't know since I never tried. When I applied to university, I didn't sign up for astronomy or molecular biology. I could have though, and I think I would have done 'ok'.

The reason I'm not an astronomer nor a molecular biologist is a combination of the above reasons. I don't have enough motivation and skill to tackle this problem, there are hundreds of people infinitely more qualified to tackle this problem, and these grand questions don't excite me as much as computer technology or my other areas of interest.

So I guess, by process of elimination, I'm in the third category. I'm 'ok' with that! The world is complex and mysterious, I don't have the answers, but other, more talented people, are searching. I thank them for that. I will eagerly pay attention to any developments that comes from their research. In the mean time, I'll enjoy what this world has to offer, I'll watch movies with friends, and read interesting books, such as A Brief History of Time.