Painting of Prometheus by German Painter Heinrich Füger  (1751–1818)

Greek mythology tells us a myth about our very beginning. When the gods were making the many creatures, they gave creatures many gifts; flight, speed, extraordinary sight. But when they got to humanity, they had nothing left to give. And so, Prometheus decided to take a huge risk for humanity: he stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity. Let us stop the story here and ponder it.

To me, this represents the greatest act of rebellion against the limitations imposed by the universe (our human weakness). Fire represents a spark of innovation; the beginning of science and crafting tools from the world given to us. It represents humanity getting their own guiding light when the universe gave them nothing.

Our universe is cold. And this comes in several meanings: uncertainty, moral ambiguity and lack of purpose. 

In this universe, we have no certainty of the bigger questions in life. We have no certainty of why we are here, what time is, what good is, what justice is, how to prove if reality is even real. These questions are huge and influential, impacting every part of our life.

And that is why we need our closure; our guiding light. But we do not have it. 

People have presented answers. But as much as the history of philosophy is a history of answers, it's a history of refutations. These answers are often rejected.

And so we lay in uncertainty.

But also the coldness of the universe is also a different coldness: existence itself is cold. Why do children get cancer? Why do people starve to death? Why do we still have poverty even in the most bustling and the richest places?

The universe is not unfair but not fair either. No, only we regard it as unfair or fair. Why would a large universe that works with things  as huge as galaxies and superclusters concern itself with if one creature that sprung up once on one planet in the midst of a long history of significant facts got cancer and died? Only the parents of the child perceive it as unfair. And if I get promoted for my hard work, only I see it as fair. But in the grand scheme of things, neither my efforts nor my company are significant.

We project our criteria of fairness and unfairness on the universe.

Coldness is nothing but a lack of heat. And so our universe is cold without a fire, a warm guiding light.

French philosopher Sartre tells us our existence happened without a purpose. German philosopher Nietzsche tells us we lost our guiding light. But all existentialists (a school of philosophy Sartre adheres to) agree that we shouldn't give up on this, because we are free. We are free.

When the universe gave us nothing, we realized our freedom and became Prometheus' flame. We become our own guiding light.

In this article, I laid down the philosophical framework in a book I will publish later. What are the implications of this human freedom, on the levels of ethics, knowledge, and more? It is a ripe topic to be explored.