Infinite improbability drive

Perhaps the question should not be, as the social satire “Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy” put it, what is the chance that an existential sperm whale and a sentient bowl of petunias would spontaneously appear miles above the earth at the same time, but rather what is the chance the sperm whales or petunias exist at all? One is just as unlikely as the other! Yet, we take whales and petunias for granted for granted because they are surrounded a plethora of infinitely improbable species and objects, like octopi, seahorses, seaweed, grass, ladybugs, raindrops and water and air…each as infinitely improbable as the next. Again, yet, here they are in one magnificent symphony on this pale blue dot we call Earth. At some point, every reasonable person has to grapple with the reality that we are surrounded by, and indeed are ourselves, extremely improbable in regards to our very existence on such a complex, life-sustaining planet. Questions, like the whale asks in the parody, such as “who am I?”, “what’s my purpose?”, “how did I get here?” and “where’s this all going?”. Sure, there are those of the philosophy that none of this is really ‘real’ – but those are the kind of people that end up in mental institutions or get really mad when you steal their ‘not real’ wallet. The creators of the aforementioned book/movie commentary on existentialism tried to shrug off the meaningless of life and existence with humor and ultimately came to the conclusion that our own assigned value is what gives us meaning and purpose, as Martin Freeman in the film finds purpose in pursuing a woman since there is no real purpose or structure to the foundation of the universe. This, of course, is not to say that love and relationships are not deeply and intrinsically embedded into the fabric of the purpose of the universe, but human-human relationships cannot be ultimate. And that is where the ‘Hitchhikers Guide’ fails, as we do not have to assign ourselves value since we already have value. And, we do not have to go on an endless quest to find an ambiguous answer to the purpose of the universe (“42”, for example), since we have already been plainly told that (Matt. 22:37-39).