The Big Picture
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Jul 12, 2022
- 3 min read
FADE IN
Act 1
INT. STUDY - 15:00
On screen, PETER is reading Quora Digest, featuring Kane Tanaka and her images at age 20 and at 117.
PETER (V.O.): Oh, she's from Fukuoka, where my elder daughter has studied and lived.
Finishing reading the story, Peter checks answer requests.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A Quoran is asking me how to cultivate a big picture perspective or learn how to think big?
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): One moment decades ago, I thought that being down-to- Earth was enough and I didn't need any big picture perspective.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And then when I looked up at the stary night sky, I thought it was a disease of my mind if I took the anthropocentric attitude and didn't think big.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): How can humans alone possess intrinsic value while other elements of existence have only instrumental ones?
Act 2
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
Peter researches with his smart phone.
PETER (V.O.): The guesstimated no. of humans ever born is: 116, 761, 402, 413. It begins with a population of 2 from 190,000 B.C.E.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Having reached the no. 300,000,000 at 1 C.E., the world population continues to grow and now the no. is about 7.8 billion.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The percentage of those ever born vis-a-vis who're living now is about 6.8%.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's a large percentage and I'm an instance of it. Am I living in the right time?
Later, Peter watches a TED Ed video clip: How small we're in the scale of the universe?
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As time-space are linked due to the finite speed of light, we're observing galaxies that existed over 13 billion years ago.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My height is 1.71m. I'm about 750 times taller than an ant.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The Earth's diameter measures 12,700km. It's about 3.5 million times larger than me.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): These details do create the big picture.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): This big picture perspective isn't about seeing patterns in complex work problems or coming up with new ideas in solving them.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We're often human-centred, assuming we're the very centre of existence.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To me, details of earthly stuff don't show the right big picture.
Pondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): One may argue that with our existence, haven't we become the focal point where the universe is conscious of itself?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But how significant is such consciousness? Isn't it anthropocentric?
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As a human instance, I believe existence of heavenly bodies or life on Earth can and will go on without any consciousness or me.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Upon reflection, does my existence now evidence that this generation needs something that my life contains?
Pondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Life owes me nothing. But I owe life everything.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Isn't there the irresistible inference that we should create and deliver value to humankind than just to exist?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Do we need to cultivate our minds better for this short life-long assignment?
Act 3
INT. SWIMMING POOL - 20:00
Resting by the pool wall, Peter looks up at night sky. He sees near city lights.
PETER (V.O.): Whenever I recall my humancentric moment decades ago, I know it was actually a big moment for me.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While humans can't be compared to the universe, galaxies or planets, we've the capacity to investigate, explore and wonder, enhancing our quality of life.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Being a tiny drop in time-space shouldn't prevent us from becoming what we want to become each day.
Peter swims a few butterfly strokes.
THE END
FADE OUT
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