The Egg (Andy Weir)

Short story / concept.

• Text form of the story (quite short): https://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg.html

• Kurzgesagt visualization of the story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6fcK_fRYaI

• Also, the song "Waiting Room" by Logic is based on the same concept.

• Apparently there is also a musical based on it: "A Crack in the Egg" Musical (2024) -- haven't consumed this at the time of writing this, but will report back once/if I do.

The Kurzgesagt video is I think what really got me into it.

Spoiler for this ahead. Just watch the video first!

I love the concept of it. I feel it presents a compelling argument for empathy, and doing no harm to your fellow humans. Obviously it's a fictional "argument"... but it's fun to imagine. It's a reminder that we are all the same, in a way. When you see someone struggling (or someone in a great position), that could have been you (in another lifetime). You could have sprung up as them instead of as You. The experience they are going through in life is not that unlike the experience, the sensations, that you've undergone.

In a weird sense, I almost let myself believe in it. It's like a weird religion or outlook that probably no one really believes in (unless there's a religion that believes in this... Buddhism has reincarnation but it's not quite the same as saying everyone is the same person.). I almost let myself believe in it. What's the harm in believing? That after I die, I will be reincarnated as another person (and then every person). There's no way to know if this is true. It's probably not, but it could be. It probably feels more rational to me than most other religious ideas. Not in a scientific way - I'm not trying to say anything like that. But if there is something mystical going on about the universe/humanity/souls, I like this idea for it. And I feel like it can be beneficial to frame it like this. If I believe in this (or even just contemplate it as art), then I believe/imagine that everyone is me (my one true mystical self/soul) and so I should treat everyone with kindness, empathy, and understanding. This begs the question - What about the truly bad people in the world? Well, the story touches on Hitler... You indeed are everyone. It's not like we're saying that it's okay for evil people to do evil things. But it makes you think... I was that person. I was evil once. But I was also all the other good people. Maybe it's like acknowledging that there are bad parts of yourself. Maybe it's saying you can have a certain level of empathy even for bad people / people who do bad things.

I love to tell people to watch the video. One of my favorite things. I feel like it's a really neat concept and is kind of mindblowing. And it kind of makes sense as an Explanation.