"The Egg" | |
---|---|
Short story by Andy Weir | |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Publication | |
Published in | Galactanet |
Media type | Online |
Publication date | August 15, 2009 |
"The Egg" is a fictional short story by American writer Andy Weir, [1] first published on his website Galactanet on August 15, 2009. [2] It is Weir's most popular short story and has been translated into over 30 languages by readers. [3] The story follows a nameless 48-year-old man who discovers the "meaning of life" after he dies. [4]
The story is about the main character, who is referred to as "you" (in the second person), and the being, who is "me" (in the first person). You, a 48-year-old man who dies in a car crash, meet the being, the narrator, who says that you have been reincarnated many times before, and that you are next to be reincarnated as a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD. The being then explains that you are, in fact, constantly reincarnated across time, and that all human beings who have ever lived and will ever live are incarnations of you. You remark about being Abraham Lincoln, Adolf Hitler, and Jesus. The being adds that you were also once John Wilkes Booth, every Holocaust victim and every person who followed Jesus.
It explains that in fact there are other godlike beings elsewhere, and that you too will one day become a god. The entire universe was created as an egg for the main character (all of humanity), and once you have lived every human life ever, you will be born as a god. The reason the being created the universe was for the main character, you, to understand this point: "Every time you victimized someone ... you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you."
In a 2015 interview with the Craftsman Founder Podcast, Weir discussed his motivation for writing "The Egg", among other topics. In the interview, Weir stated that he "wanted to write a story where life was fair after all". According to Weir, most religions have their own take on the proverb "what goes around comes around" and revolve around this idea in some way. When asked why he chose to have one soul reincarnating in eternity instead of forward through linear time, Weir said that the only way his idea of everyone being one soul would work was if reincarnation could happen across time. Weir stated that he wrote the story quickly, saying "I banged it out in 40 minutes and posted it, and that was it", with him not expecting the traction that the story got after it was published. [5]
Rapper Logic used "The Egg" as inspiration for his album Everybody released in 2017, re-imagined in the interlude track "Waiting Room" and featuring Neil DeGrasse Tyson as God. [6] [7]
There are many short film adaptations of the story. Hjalmar Ekström Wikander, Tage Hervén, Walter Schönenbröcher, Fred Grant, Andrej Dojkic, Timothy Judd, Ben Brand, Gabrielle Salonga, Josef Orlandi and Nataliia Weaver have all directed one of those adaptations. Kurzgesagt also turned the story into an animated video. [8]
Heaven, or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the beliefs of some religions, heavenly beings can descend to Earth or incarnate and earthly beings can ascend to Heaven in the afterlife or, in exceptional cases, enter Heaven without dying.
The meaning of life pertains to the inherent significance or philosophical meaning of living. There is no consensus on a definitive answer, and thinking or discourse on the topic is sought in the English language through the question, "What is the meaning of life?". There have been many proposed answers to these questions from many different cultural and ideological backgrounds. The search for life's meaning has produced much philosophical, scientific, theological, and metaphysical speculation throughout history. Different people and cultures believe different things for the answer to this question. Opinions vary on the usefulness of using time and resources in the pursuit of an answer. Excessive pondering can be indicative of, or lead to, an existential crisis.
Chrysippus of Soli was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was a native of Soli, Cilicia, but moved to Athens as a young man, where he became a pupil of the Stoic philosopher Cleanthes. When Cleanthes died, around 230 BC, Chrysippus became the third head of the Stoic school. A prolific writer, Chrysippus expanded the fundamental doctrines of Cleanthes' mentor Zeno of Citium, the founder and first head of the school, which earned him the title of the Second Founder of Stoicism.
The Urantia Book is a spiritual, philosophical, and religious book that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States sometime between 1924 and 1955. When first published, it claimed to have been written by celestial beings. The actual authorship remains a matter of debate, though it has been noted that it appears to have plagiarized multiple sources, without attribution. It received various degrees of interest ranging from praise to criticism for its religious and science-related content, its unusual length, and the unusual names and origins of the authors named within the book.
"Know thyself" is a philosophical maxim which was inscribed upon the Temple of Apollo in the ancient Greek precinct of Delphi. The best-known of the Delphic maxims, it has been quoted and analyzed by numerous authors throughout history, and has been applied in many ways. Although traditionally attributed to the Seven Sages of Greece, or to the god Apollo himself, the inscription likely had its origin in a popular proverb.
Natural religion most frequently means the "religion of nature", in which God, the soul, spirits, and all objects of the supernatural are considered as part of nature and not separate from it. Conversely, it is also used in philosophy to describe some aspects of religion that are said to be knowable apart from divine revelation through logic and reason alone, for example, the existence of the unmoved Mover, the first cause of the universe.
In Jainism, godliness is said to be the inherent quality of every soul. This quality, however, is subdued by the soul's association with karmic matter. All souls who have achieved the natural state of infinite bliss, infinite knowledge, infinite power and infinite perception are regarded as God in Jainism. Jainism rejects the idea of a creator deity responsible for the manifestation, creation, or maintenance of this universe. Instead, souls who have reached Heaven for their merits and deeds influence the Universe for a fixed period until they undergo reincarnation and continue the cycle of enlightenment. According to Jain doctrine, the universe and its constituents have always existed. All constituents and actions are governed by universal natural laws and "perfect soul".
The theology of Søren Kierkegaard has been a major influence in the development of 20th century theology. Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) was a 19th-century Danish philosopher who has been generally considered the "Father of Existentialism". During his later years (1848–1855), most of his writings shifted from philosophical in nature to religious.
Conceptions of God in classical theist, monotheist, pantheist, and panentheist traditions – or of the supreme deity in henotheistic religions – can extend to various levels of abstraction:
Mary Poppins is a fictional character and the eponymous protagonist of P. L. Travers' books of the same name along with all of their adaptations. A magical English nanny, she blows in on the east wind and arrives at the Banks home at Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane, London, where she is given charge of the Banks children and teaches them valuable lessons with a magical touch. Travers gives Poppins the accent and vocabulary of a real London nanny: cockney base notes overlaid with a strangled gentility.
Josephus Gerhardus Rulof was a Dutch author who was known as a self-proclaimed psychic and trance medium or spirit medium. He wrote about thirty books about life, death, and the hereafter.
Open individualism is a view in the philosophy of self, according to which there exists only one numerically identical subject, who is everyone at all times, in the past, present and future. It is a theoretical solution to the question of personal identity, being contrasted with "Empty individualism", the view that personal identities correspond to a fixed pattern that instantaneously disappears with the passage of time, and "Closed individualism", the common view that personal identities are particular to subjects and yet survive over time.
Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, rational analysis and argument. Theologians may undertake the study of Christian theology for a variety of reasons, such as in order to:
Three Upbuilding Discourses (1843) is a book by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard continues his discussion of the difference between externalities and inwardness in the Discourses but moves from the inwardness of faith to that of love. According to Kierkegaard, everything is always changing in the external world, but in the inner spiritual world, there is one thing that never changes. He says, “What is it that never changes even though everything is changed? It is love, and that alone is love, that which never becomes something else.” Love is dependent on how a person sees and when the individual sees with love that individual can see away sin in himself as well as the sin of the whole world, just as Christ did.
Judgement in an afterlife, in which one's deeds and characteristics in life determine either punishment or reward, is a central theme of many religions. Almost all religions are greatly devoted to the afterlife, emphasizing that what you do in your current life affects what happens to you after death.
The Martian is a 2011 science fiction debut novel written by Andy Weir. The book was originally self-published on Weir's blog, in a serialized format. In 2014, the book was re-released after Crown Publishing Group purchased the exclusive publishing rights. The story follows an American astronaut, Mark Watney, as he becomes stranded alone on Mars in 2035 and must improvise in order to survive.
Andrew Taylor Weir is an American novelist. His 2011 novel The Martian was adapted into the 2015 film of the same name directed by Ridley Scott. He received the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2016 and his 2021 novel Project Hail Mary was a finalist for the 2022 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
In philosophy, the problem of the creator of God is the controversy regarding the hypothetical cause responsible for the existence of God, on the assumption God exists. It contests the proposition that the universe cannot exist without a creator by asserting that the creator of the Universe must have the same restrictions. This, in turn, may lead to a problem of infinite regress wherein each new presumed creator of a creator is itself presumed to have its own creator. A common challenge to theistic propositions of a creator deity as a necessary first-cause explanation for the universe is the question: "Who created God?" Some faith traditions have such an element as part of their doctrine. Jainism posits that the universe is eternal and has always existed. Isma'ilism rejects the idea of God as the first cause, due to the doctrine of God's incomparability and source of any existence including abstract objects.
Everybody is the third studio album by American rapper Logic. It was released on May 5, 2017, by Visionary Music Group and Def Jam Recordings. The album features guest appearances from Killer Mike, Alessia Cara, Khalid, J. Cole, No I.D., and Neil deGrasse Tyson, among others. The production on the album was handled by ten producers including 6ix and Logic.
Casey and Andy is a webcomic series written and illustrated by Andy Weir. Following the adventures of two mad scientists and of their friends and acquaintances, it was typically updated three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays throughout the early 2000s, primarily with a gag-a-comic format, including ongoing storylines and running gags.