Child of the Universe

Someone who works in my school has posted outside her office a few lines from the poem “Desiderata.” You know the one I’m talking about—you’ve almost certainly seen it in or around someone’s office. One of the lines displayed near this particular office is, “You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars.” It’s obviously supposed to make one feel good, comforted, peaceful, perhaps significant. You are a child of the universe. You are a special snowflake.

The problem is that a child of the universe is essentially an orphan. The universe is no parent. It would be much more sensible to say that you are a product of the universe. The universe obviously doesn’t parent you, love you, guide you, or otherwise care about you.

You are a product of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. No more than the maggots and the black holes.