There is a Chinese Proverb that goes something like this: A farmer and his son had a beloved stallion who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors exclaimed, “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.” A few days later, the horse returned home, leading a few wild mares back to the farm as well. The neighbors shouted out, “Your horse has returned, and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.” Later that week, the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the mares and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg. The villagers cried, “Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.” A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all the able-bodied boys for the army. They did not take the farmer’s son, still recovering from his injury. Friends shouted, “Your boy is spared, what tremendous luck!” To which the farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

If I think I understand this, it's like the butterfly effect, but if it had an opposite reaction. Every positive decision may have an equally negative reaction. Someone might save a dying person on the street, who may go on to murder hundreds of people. Someone related a victim of said murderer, may start a charity, and save thousands of lives. We don't truly know whether something we do is good or bad, until it plays out.

That gave me the chills, because of how real this could actually be. How, in the hope of progress, we show our ignorance and inconsideration of everything else. Thank you, for this.

"The only gods out here are the odds." This will be stuck with me forever.

The sequel that nobody ask for, but everybody needed.

No freaking way. A couple of days ago I almost missed my train back home but I made it right before the doors closed. Then I sit in front of a middle aged man. I was looking to buy some maple syrup before leaving canada so I decided to ask him where can I find the best one. Anyway, he eventually starts sharing to me that he was a chef but had to stop a couple of years back because of a car crash (straight on a fully loaded truck) that left him and his mom unable to move for 3 months after the crash. He said they weren't supposed to be alive after that crash, but somehow they managed to survive that and the 3 months. Then, I had to leave the train since I arrived but I rlly wanted to hear more of his story but I had to go back to university dorms and sleep early since I had to wake up at 5am for a hard labor job. So before I left the train I told him to check out "Nova Effect" and I prayed that he would land on the pursuit of wonder video. Hey train guy, if your reading this, you seem like a very genuine, caring guy and I'm so greatful I started up a conversation about maple syrup. I rlly hope the youtube algorithm gods will make u stumble upon this video and this comment because I would really love for you to continue on with yr story of how that crash affected your life. And for the other readers who reached this point, never shy away from a converstion with a stranger. It could have the potential to be life changing.

This was absolutely amazing. My favorite channel hands down.

I sincerely hope the answer to the Fermi paradox is in fact similar to the story in this video. I hope we are isolated by intention so that we as a species might mature enough, alone, through technology, ideology, thought and community to reach such a level of advancement that we might be presented with this bittersweet welcome. A peaceful agreement and exchange of awareness that we are now in a new forest. From this moment on your decisions are your own, but the game has changed.

“What would have become of Hercules, do you think, if there had been no lion, hydra, stag or boar - and no savage criminals to rid the world of? What would he have done in the absence of such challenges? Obviously, he would have just rolled over in bed and gone back to sleep. So by snoring his life away in luxury and comfort he never would have developed into the mighty Hercules.” -Epictetus As the ancient Stoics believed only three things are under our control our responses, our thoughts and our actions. Other people, nature even our own ever-present mortality nothing is in our control or power. Apparent control over such things is merely a temporary illusion. Death, disease, famine, plague, betrayal, defeat, and loss all are parts of human existence. Getting bitter with hatred, crumbling in crippling fear or burning in anger will not change anything. Instead, we should focus on the things we can do to live a fulfilling life. And if death arrives unexpectedly we can take comfort in the fact that we lived a fulfilling life be it not as long as we originally hoped.

We can’t possibly ever know what led up to everything that was impactful on humanity, nor should we seek to predict the repercussions of everything we do. Do it for humanity, do it for your loved ones, do it for you. If you follow this, and not necessarily in that order, you’re life with be filled with meaningful moments.

I'm constantly amazed at how you leave the endings of your stories without resolution. That takes some brave story telling. The lack of conclusion makes the reader think 🤔. Good work.

Amazing story. The last words of that obelisk, gives the chills. Humanity came so far, because of the fight against the odds of reality. It's what drives survival and evolution, but who knows if would there be a limit. But it is clear that there are exponential curves, against the flow of chaos. The ego always wants... MORE... Only if one drops the ignorance of the ego, that's when you can embrace the infinite, and become one with reality. It's something like transcendance.

These videos never cease to amaze me. It like only reading does, creates a certain thoughtfulness. I feel like I and many other young people have gained a valuable wisdom from your channel as a whole. Whether it be a simple anxiety reduction or a spark of interest in philosophy, you help people in a large number of ways I’m sure. Your comments section will always be my favorite, it’s people sharing real, genuine thought with one another. Thank you

The first episode of Nova effect made me find your channel, you changed my life, thank you.

Thank you so much for making this. The first Nova was the first video I saw by you, and it’s led me down a path I’m still exploring. Your channel means the world to me

I loved the first video of Nova Effect and now i love this one. Your videos gives me that portion of time and day that stops everything around me and there's just place to wonder and being. Thank you for that

Been with you since almost day 1. Im more than happy to see you grow like this. You deserve it.

I've listened to every single one of your videos since you became narrator like a year or two ago, and I think hands down this is one of the best videos so far.

These stories always have such a profound effect on the way I think. Keep 'em coming 🥰

personally, this is your best video yet

This video was basically the idea of a pre-determined butterfly effect.

I can't get enough of this channel every teaching is important

Another outstanding production. Thank you. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

I love this channel! Such amazing storytelling, every single time! With thoughtful and complex meanings and considerations behind each story. Thanks, Pursuit of Wonder

Amazing this channel quenches my thirst of stories the way I think it should be.

whoa, this was the best one yet!! awesome!!

One of the best videos I watched this year 😢

Anytime you land on a planet with a black obelisk you should just immediately turn around

This reminds me of the story of the Chinese farmer when something happens good or bad his response was always the same. We will see.

Thank you so much for making this

A sequel to one of your best stories! Very welcome

Absolutely beautiful. Thank you for another magnificent piece of your outstanding art. Really humbles one's mind.

"Nova effect 2" *My brain: What was the nova effect one?*

🙏 thank you for this story. Narrative can change reality. I can't express how much this story has touched my heart.

this was amazing, I had chills all over

Beautiful, Thank You.

Keep up the good work man, your videos keep me going

Do you have podcasts? I’d love to listen while running. It calms my mind.

The last message is so well written.

The only video I’ve seen that talks about the quarantine. Wonderful.

Whew!! That was INTENSE! Well done, sir!

Inspiration. Tyranny. Inspiration. Tyranny. And the cycle continues. This video lays out the absurdity in assuming that the things one man does are good, or bad, in the big picture. We are so unaware... but we try so hard.

This video was mind-blowing, probably my favourite from your channel. Its almost unbelievable to think small experiences or actions from people centuries ago may have totally conditioned what the world is today. Every single thing someone does at any moment can have a tremendous value for the future. All actions, good or bad, have both good and bad results. It depends on how and where it was done and in who did it. It's like we are all already defined to be what the universe wants. Like this is all millions of separate stories logically sequenced and connected. This makes us realize reality is more complex and interesting than we think it is.

All is one. So all is well. At the same time, nothing is quite as powerful and empowering as truly embodying yourself and unconditional love towards all-that-is.

Whoa! This was so well-written!

Incredible video as always

That was hugely enjoyable.

One of your best works 👏🏾

Phenomenal video as always

Omg… goosebumps over my entire body. I think that this content creator is such a brilliant gift to the world. I personally don’t know how they do it, but I certainly hope that they continue.

thanks for the upload

The timing with Kurzgesagt's video on a similar subject is interesting

I have made a version of this argument countless times when trying to explain to people the futility of consequentialism.

Another awesome viewer participation experience that brings me peace of mind 😌 Why do these make me smile, feel reassured, and help me sleep? Meh, the answer is not as important to me right now as their contributions to helping me sleep peacefully 🤗

Wow this is amazing, thanks

Loved this one!! Man if you ever do guest voices, James Spader reading that last part would have been perfect.

Awesome!!!

That last message gave me shivers, such. Beautiful video. Makes me wonder how not alone we may be in the universe. And how the self is just an illusion in the continuous sequence of events.

Well done,well done!

Nuclear attack in 2111? Obviously, you're too optimistic. Draven Pootin threatens to do that in 2022

I wish I could meet you and give you a big hug. 🤗. You are the one.

Magnificent, thoughtful, penetrating, timeless, compelling, graceful, hopeful, and Theological. I have appreciated your work in the past, but this is my favorite piece you have made. You capture the essence and meaning of consciousness and make it matter in an ultimate and universal sense. I am compelled by this to think of the song "Rosetta Stoned" from the band TOOL. It was my favorite song for years after it came out; a tale as profound as it is absurd, it truly reminds me of this story. Excellently crafted. I deeply appreciate your story telling and message. Godspeed. 🙏🏼🌟

Thank you

A delightful decision by the commander at the end.

When you thought you have moved on. He comes back.

Excellent!

Thank you.

My favorite thing about the two Nova videos is how it forces me to reconsider whether something I perceive as "bad" is actually bad or not. I personally believe in God as an Eternal Father, an omnibenevolent, omniscient Being. These videos help me to remember that sometimes the Lord allows bad things to happen to good people so that good things can happen to *all* people. He is a master of making good out of a bad situation. I do not claim to know the balance between *luck* and *divine intervention*, but I do know that Heavenly Father loves all His children, and He has allowed me to suffer in the present so that I might reap the rewards of the future. Thanks for producing these videos so I can think about these principles from additional angles!

It’s the question of morality that has always bothered me. If you save a life, awesome! But what if that life goes on to commit the greatest evils? Is what you did good? Is it bad? It only seems to be defined depending a particular scale of time. If people immediately benefit, then it’s seen as good, but if later, what you did becomes a problem, then it’s seen as bad. But after long enough, it’s not your problem anymore. Also, the idea that there are gods out there that care about us is also present here and many other alien theories/stories: there is some nigh omnipotent, omniscient, advanced civilization out there, watching over us, caring about what we do.

Anyone else feel like that black obelisk was written by an earlier human species? There is so much hubris in that entire piece, talking about imaginary friends and imprisonment for not taking the universe seriously enough. Lol

Humans won't learn from their mistakes, he repeats it again and again until it completely destroys him, no matter which or whose planet it is, he continues to be that primate who achieves his wants through Destruction and destruction alone...your narration actually made me think that i am one of the crew members of the spaceship...❤️ From India

Literally crying in the end

Wow, just wow!

I've had all the money in the world three times and I had to give it back to keep the game going - Charles Manson

Finally a part 2

This video is a masterpiece.

This a a beautiful sci Fi story illustrating our cyclical reality of constant death and rebirth that leads to ascension

Bravo!

I liked the story you share in this video

great work

Honestly, this one is a bit contrived. We've spread throughout the galaxy, but we can't prevent an asteroid from hitting Earth--Nine HUNDRED years from now? Come on. . .

The end was... perfect

this gives me a bit of anxiety, each time something good happens to me I'm paranoid something "bad",or "unlucky" might happen to me not soon after.

I love this one!

this is great !!!!!!

This video is amazing, thank you for this. I've had this point of view on reality for a long time and it is so refreshing to see such a good video about it. If I had to explain it I would say: Imagine someone says he has the formula to know the past and the future and are willing to show it to you but you can't understand it, it's too overwhelmingly complex... good to us we have senses that can transform that formula in beautiful visible art, music, taste, texture, smell and many other ways only you have to translate that fucking mess - that is all already done and you just dont have the capability to understand it - in something that can be well digested and meaningful for all of us

my brain did a full spin and jump when it saw the thumbnail, for some reason i keep seeing the original Nova video thumbnail, so when it saw this I was dumbfounded for a full minute 💀

Men who are occupied in the restoration of health to other men, by the joint exertion of skill and humanity, are above all the great of the earth. They even partake of divinity, since to preserve and renew is almost as noble as to create.

Literal chills...

this was crazy cool.

Its very interesting to think that in the very fa off future it becomes wise not to search for sentient life but to place your measage at an appropriate place and wait for it to be found by them

I apologize ahead of time for this stupidly long rant. This video just really resonated with me right now and included things that I have been thinking about a lot. (and the end of the video reminded me of what happened to the Georgia Guidestones recently... And the ignorance and ego of people... How they fear what they don't understand... or think it will threaten THEIR reality. (And don't care about anything else)) But, to start this- "The only gods out here are the odds." This made me think about the fact that the "odds" can be a little more calculated than we realize. The more that we care (about everything), the more that we usually try to learn- and I think that the more open we are to trying to understand all sides of a situation- perspectives- information- variables- etc, the better we can attempt to comprehend how everything is connected, how it all works, and how it impacts each other. Very much the "Butterfly Effect" that someone else mentioned in the comments. We're all connected in the way that every choice we make affects someone else or a thing in some way, shape, or form. And then where there is ego and narcissism, there is inevitable destruction. Those people don't care enough to either TRY to understand how their actions will impact reality or they "know" and just don't care. Because it's all about THEM. Nothing else. It's insanely unnerving sometimes when you think about the reality of it. But, getting back to the "odds" part- I've always thought that a PART of "luck" comes from caring enough to TRY to understand how everything works (good, bad, in between) and then making calculated "guesses" from there based on that information. And so, when I hear some people being like "Yeah, we were really lucky that God blessed us with this" or other similar things-- a part of me wishes that more people would realize that (in reality) their own hard work, determination, and care were (and are) a HUGE factor in what created those results. Not some higher power. (We don't have control over EVERYTHING that happens, but we have more power and influence than we think.) But, if we end up just focusing on ourselves and kind of ignore all other information or facts thinking that we can just "override" it and "make things happen" (when there is selfish, idiotic, and malicious intent-) then the "luck" is most likely not going to end in the direction that you want it to. At least not in the end. I feel like the concept of karma ties into this. We, in a way, create our own karma. If you're a horrible person, don't care, and continually hurt others-- well, eventually you're going to piss off the wrong person or lose what you have due to your selfishness. And the other side, if you DO care, and are nice to people just for the sake of it, and not because you expect anything out of it (actual empathy), you will MUCH more likely have good things happen to you. Some people really appreciate kindness and the small things so much more than we think. Little bits of kindness can change other people's lives. You really just never know. But, going back to the Georgia Guidestones, even though we don't know the "real" name of the architect of it (who in reality was a group of people) the main person wrote a book called "Common Sense Renewed" that explains the design and creation of the Guidestones, what was written on them, and their group's incredibly down-to-earth and balanced views of I guess... humanity itself. It's VERY eye-opening, enlightening, and yet comforting reading about others that see things from such a "middle-ground" point of view- because they understand how nothing is black and white, but also that there MUST be balance for things to thrive and exist. So even though the intentions of the Guidestones were to help humanity in case of an "end-of-the-world" event (hence all the different languages, astronomy aspects, and was also a "clock" of sorts and a compass-- well, radicals read the "guide to an age of reason" list on the stones and just immediately went "NEW WORLD ORDER PROPAGANDA!" "SATAN WORSHIPPERS" blah blah blah... and after vandalizing it for years because of conspiracy theorists that just seem to refuse to do actual realistic research on things ended up blowing up the monument last year. I can honestly say that hearing about that depressed the hell out of me. Especially after reading the book about it and understanding why they wrote the things on it that they did. Ultimately, in the end though, life finds a way. And I do have enough faith in SOME of humanity to know that we'll figure out a way to navigate through all of the muck that's been happening. And that it most likely has been happening for a reason. (Every unbalance eventually fights a way back to "homeostasis" in a way.) I know that a part of it for me is that I have definitely been seeing so many people's true colors during this in every extreme (which has been very enlightening and, well, "educational" lol) Anyhow, lastly- Care about and love each other. Try to be open to learning new perspectives and information about things. Don't be afraid to admit when you are wrong. Treat everyone the way that you want to be treated. And I also wish everyone luck as we all move forward.

This would make a really good book and TV series

I already know this one gonna be good

I would love to write a continuation of this story. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at this type of writing style and I feel particularly inspired to continue this epic saga of man you’ve begun to tell. Is there some place I could post or share a continuation of this video in a written format?

My understanding of this is that nothing is good or bad. Instead it’s defined by our reaction. Hope and dread come from the same place, it just depends on how one chooses to act upon it.

Please tell me which philosophical or self help books u read which inspire such brilliant and awesome representation of it ?

Pure gold

This showcases my view of chaos

Everything, everywhere, all at once.