The Birth of Absurdity

A contemplative journey through cosmic silence that leaves us with the feeling of absurdity about our ephemeral existence.

The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world. — Albert Camus

Arun Kumar

Summary: This essay explores the origins of absurdity as a feeling born from the dissonance between our longing for meaning and the universe’s apparent indifference. It examines two conceptual paths: one that posits a cosmos imbued with inherent meaning, and another that portrays a universe governed by physical laws — unfolding through inevitable consequences, yet devoid of purpose or predetermined destiny. For those inclined toward the latter view, the predicament of finite existence becomes fertile ground for the emergence of absurdity.

Prelude to Absurdity

“Absurdity,” as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, refers to that which stands “against or without reason or propriety; incongruous, unreasonable, illogical.” Merriam-Webster adds a more existential nuance: “having no rational or orderly relationship to human life.”

Across contexts, definitions of absurdity converge on a rupture between expectation and reality, between our longing for order and the chaos that greets us, between the desire for certainty and the randomness we constantly face. Absurdity is not a matter of merely being silly or nonsensical in our interactions with others. Rather, the defining thread is dissonance: what we hope for and what we receive remains stubbornly misaligned.

In this series of essays, we speak of absurdity in its existential sense — a deeper dissonance that shadows life’s mismatch between our longing for meaning and the universe’s indifference to that longing.

We feel absurdity not merely because the world is illogical, is full of suffering, or is contradictory, nor simply because things fail to make sense. We also feel it because the universe is silent — silent to our pleas for purpose, for coherence, for giving us a story that threads the days of a week, a month, a year into something whole. We yearn for a narrative with a beginning, an end, and something meaningful in between. A narrative that gives us reason and urges us to rise again tomorrow.

Cosmic Silence and Human Perception

We look around and witness the vast expanses of space and time. We gaze at the twinkling stars scattered across the night sky; we marvel at images of galaxies swirling in cosmic dance, captured by telescopes that peer deep into the fabric of the universe. We learn of the cosmic microwave background radiation, a faint echo from the Big Bang, still humming through the void. The sheer scale of space and time, and our apparent insignificance within it, can stir a quiet, unsettling feeling.

For me, that feeling also surfaces at strange moments like while standing on the cliff at Point Udall in St. Croix, the easternmost edge of U.S. territory, watching the ocean stretch endlessly toward the horizon. The waves crash, recede, and return, indifferent to my presence. Lost in the vastness of blue sky above and the turquoise ocean below, I find myself wondering: What is all this for?

The question is not new. It has echoed across centuries and through cultures. It has been whispered in monasteries, temples, and mosques. It has stirred in the minds of philosophers and in the quiet reflections of thinkers seeking to understand the workings of the cosmos. It is a question that has persisted and refuses to be silent or find a resolve.

Faith or Physics?

The sense of absurdity in our relationship with the universe begins with a fundamental question: does the universe possess inherent meaning to begin with? There are two possible answers to this question — yes, or no.

One path, affirming that the universe holds meaning, also implies the presence of agency — a designer, a higher power, and a guiding force. This view offers comfort: that there is, indeed, a plan, even if it remains hidden from us. That our existence is not senseless but woven into a larger story. That our lives are not fleeting sparks in the void, but chapters in a divine narrative, and within that grand arc, each of us carries a narrative of our own.

This path, however, requires a leap of faith. The agency it invokes cannot be verified through empirical means, and it must contend with difficult questions — questions such as…

• Why is there so much suffering?
• Why do the innocents perish and the wicked prosper?
• Is this agency benevolent, or indifferent?
• Are we participants in a cosmic drama — or pawns in a game we do not quite understand?

The other path contends that the universe requires no designer and harbors no inherent meaning. Moreover, this alternative has ample empirical support. From the Big Bang onward, a cascade of inevitabilities — triggered by random fluctuations — can account for the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets; the emergence of self-replicating molecules; the rise of natural selection; and, eventually, the appearance of conscious beings like us. In this view, the cosmos has no story. It follows no teleological arc. Its trajectory is not predetermined. At any moment, it could veer in countless directions, and among those, one path is selected based on contingencies of the present moment.

This path offers a simpler answer. It sidesteps theological thickets and avoids the burden of metaphysical justification. Suffering, in this view, is not a moral riddle but a natural occurrence — part of the fabric of existence. The cost, however, is steep: it strips the universe of inherent meaning and purpose. What remains is a cosmos that is vast, beautiful, and yet, profoundly indifferent.

The Birth of the Absurd

And so, we arrive at the threshold of the birth of absurdity.

In a universe devoid of innate meaning, we are born. We live. We love. We create and procreate. We suffer. We cycle through the rituals of daily life. We construct an identity, only to watch it dissolve in retirement. And then — and then we die. The stars remain. The ocean continues. Everything carries on, except that after our death, there will no longer be a “us” to know we ever existed.

In the end, if one is not persuaded by faith in a divine agency guiding the universe toward a teleological end, but instead finds the evidence for a cosmos without inherent meaning more compelling, then our brief, finite existence within an indifferent universe begins to feel absurd. Against this backdrop, to rise each morning with anticipation rather than a Sisyphean dread requires deliberate strategies — acts of meaning-making in defiance of silence.

And so, the search begins: for purpose, for coherence, for a way to live meaningfully in a universe that offers none by default.

Toward the Next Question

The sense of absurdity — arising from the dissonance between our lives unfolding, perhaps with rhythm and intention, and a universe that remains indifferent — inevitably gives rise to existential angst. It becomes a fitting next step in this exploration: to ask what practical consequences emerge when we confront the silence, and how we respond to the void it reveals.

Ciao, and thanks for reading.