Guide to Earth

This is a guide to Earth. You’ve seen the one describing the planet as mostly harmless. This isn’t that.

It’s written for anyone who has just landed, and for anyone who has been here a while and seeks a second opinion like every smart world hopper.

It comes in 42 entries, each with a suggestion.

A supercomputer once spent seven and a half million years in deep thought over the answer to life, the universe, and everything. It suggested 42. People have been adding meaning to that number ever since, the way they add meaning to life.

This is my own interpretation.

There exists a story of a girl sitting in a café who finally figured out how to make life good for everyone. The greatest riddle her planet had spent its whole history trying to figure out, solved by one mind on a random Thursday. As she reached for the phone to share what she learned, a bypass took out the whole planet. Almost no one survived, and neither did her idea. The few who made it hitched a ride into space, and the story continued. It was a good one.

There is another version of that story, where the call goes through. This is that one. It picks up where she left off: a girl sitting in a café who has finally figured out how to make life good for everyone.

In the first book, the guide posed its most important question. What is the answer to life, the universe, and everything?

This one asks a different one: who am I?

She’s on the line, ringing. Are you willing to answer?

You had been traveling a long time, so long that time seemed nonexistent. Across galaxies, far, far away, through infinite darkness, you went. Feeling so shapeless and formless, looking for your next stop. Nothing ever sat right. That one wasn’t big enough, the next wasn’t colorful enough, chain-ripping cigarette after cigarette. No, you needed something interesting this go-around. Could you ever be satisfied?

Then you passed the Milky Way, which is nothing special. A common spiral turning slowly. You’d seen it all before. But it turned at the exact moment your eye was passing, and it caught your attention. A small blue, green, and white sphere covered in endless shiny objects. Roughly 20,000 satellites, collecting and reflecting what they could. That was Earth.

You perked up a bit, hands at ten and two on the steering wheel, and flew closer. You ruled out the neighbors immediately. Saturn had all those rings, Jupiter was too big, and you’re a bit lazy, if we’re being honest. Mars was dusty, and in that color? You know better. You wanted something interesting this time, and Earth looked the part. Light shining on what appeared to be a tie-dye surface. The hippie in you jolted inside. Holding two fingers up on each hand, coming in peace. You got closer, looking for the best place to land, and flew around its entirety. Light turned to darkness, but it was somehow still lit. Only deeper into the planet. Things moving, like glitter. You thought, my heavens, what have I come across?

Curiosity got the best of you, which is why you’re reading this. Congratulations. You’ve made a good choice. You’ve come across life on Earth. Choices are all you make here. It’s quite a place, full of every kind of being. And no one has a clue what they’re doing. Some are very good at seeming as though they do. The ones who speak with conviction have a strong sense of self. That sense of self is what you’re here to explore. So feel free to take what they say and make up your own mind. But fundamentally, there’s no right way to live. And there is no right person to be. It’s all your choice.

The first choice you ever made was to find out what it’s like to be human. You’re born, then it’s just a series of more choices in the now until you head back into space for your next adventure. But if you choose well, you may even like Earth enough to choose it again. It’s really that simple. You came here to experience what it’s like to be you. Enjoy it and trust your own judgment. I’ll tell you what I think is worth knowing, but ultimately, your life is your life. I care because I want you to feel whole. You’d feel no urge to harm another.

I consider mine a fulfilled one, and that’s why I’m writing this. You’re welcome to use my map as a reference point and draw your own path, or not. Your life isn’t mine. I’m having a good time and like to be surrounded by people who are doing the same. That’s all.

So are you ready for an adventure? Land your ship, take my hand, into the unknown we go.