20 Facts of Life

You are unique.

You are 100 trillion little animals all working together.
Every one of them is unique, too.

They die, but you keep on living as new ones constantly take the place of the ones that die. Except your brain cells. They are with you for life.

The atomic elements forming you right now are ashes from blown up stars.
Most of them are the same atoms that formed our planet 4.5 billion years ago.

The atomic elements flow through you. Even the calcium in your bones and teeth. In four months more than 80% of your atoms will be exchanged for new ones. In a year, all but a few stubborn atoms will be new. A year ago you were completely different earth atoms. Next year you will be "materially" new, too.

The DNA in every living cell in your body has never died.
Every bit of it is at least 3.6 billion years old.

Genes are memories encoded in your DNA.
Some of your memories are 3.6 billion years old.

Genes, like all memories, are meaningless unless they are remembered.
Like words are meaningless unless remembered. Words are memories, too.

All your energy, your life, your vision, originates from solar radiation.

Awareness is surprise.

Mind is what awareness does to adjust to surprises.

Life is a cycle - bringing the elements, energy, information towards you; weaving these together with your expectations and needs; responding to any errors in your expectations; observing the effects of your responses.

There is no such thing as an invariable cycle.
That's what generates the surprise of awareness.

One response to surprise is to communicate with other beings, to work together to avoid unpleasant surprises next cycle. Sharing cycles by knowing together.

Consciousness is knowing together.

Cells know together, so do we, so do societies, and ecosystems, too.

Knowing together produces a new level of surprise. A brand new Awareness.

Surprises pass through our cells, our selves, our societies, our ecosystems. They are refreshed by forgetfulness.

We eventually remember how to avoid bad surprises, and how to have the good ones again. This is learning. It is evolution, too.

Awareness has learned a lot in 3.6 billion years. But the best thing it has learned is to write down these 20 facts and share them around.