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In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded. Immediately the laws of physics ensured that everything would work the way it does. Without physics, the universe wouldn’t exist and we wouldn’t be able to ask the question. From the physics that cause the stars to shine and eventually die came chemistry. Every element of every molecule in every compound in the universe came from a dying star. The abundance of elements and the laws of chemistry resulted in biology – life. For billions of years physics, chemistry and biology interacted, resulting in all of the people you have known, all the pets you’ve owned, all of the birds you’ve heard sing, and all of the insects you’ve unwittingly stood on.

You’re here because physics, chemistry and biology have been at work shaping energy and matter for 13.75 billion years, and will continue to do so long after you are gone. Your purpose is to enjoy your short waking moment in time, to learn and to explore, and to recognise that you are part of a magnificently ancient, complex and purposeless universe that has produced you with your own complexity and consciousness, and given you the ability to comprehend your place in it and choose your own purpose.