Individuals are typically quite aware of the essential facts of being alive and unique. Put simply, there is me and there is that which is not me, or, the rest of the cosmos. That I am part of the cosmos in total is true yet hardly relevant, for my awareness of me is what is truly relevant. I am that I am, however I became me. The rest of the cosmos is not me.

I leave it to other philosophers and psychologists to attempt to slice and dice the above fundamental reality into subparts and sub-definitions. Let me simply state that it is normal for me to think and to behave first in terms of the reality of me and secondly in terms of the rest of the cosmos. It is sufficient that I am aware of me and aware that a tiny part of the rest of the cosmos, the Earth, is the lesser womb from which my parts were assembled. Earth is where I became a unique life, the place in which I live and grow, the place in which I become whatever I become, and my grave when I die.

If I have typical human cognitive ability, I cannot help but know that I am unique as a life. I do not taste the ice cream that you eat. I do not feel your feelings. I am aware of you and of our apparent commonalties as members of a species, but I am also keenly aware of our separateness. What, I wonder, is this awareness of myself as unique from you? What is unique about my life as opposed to yours except that I am not you? Are not all lives unique? Should we perceive ourselves as an insignificant part of a whole or is it valid to acknowledge our individual uniqueness, our singular life, as the single most important realization about all existence?

Those questions have occupied Humanity for a very long time. We have every conceivable explanation one might imagine, and in the end the actual answer is that we do not know. Cloaking ignorance in complicated philosophical or religious arguments has been fruitless. We simply have refused to acknowledge the progression requirement in our knowledge that denies those answers until we grow sufficiently, as a species, through our scientific study of life.

There was a religious and philosophical argument about the basis of life in the 1800's regarding the existence of a life force in organic materials, that was assumed by some not to exist in so-called inorganic materials. That issue was apparently settled when urea was synthesized entirely from inorganic materials. Is there a message for us today?

Is it possible that we will perform advanced experiments to create complex molecules from simple elements and simple molecules, combine them to form a unique type of DNA, replace the DNA in an existing cell, and then proceed to create a new form of life? Of course we will. We will do it because we can, and especially because our creation of a new life form will answer a number of deep and troublesome questions out of our history about the uniqueness of life itself. If we can create life, and by further experiments and advancements create a sentient life form, we will have created an aware, conscious being.

When that happens, our entire sense of our origin and our Destiny will change. We will understand that anything essentially equal to or superior to us could have created Humanity. We will understand that our progress towards our Destiny will be of our own making. We will understand that the human is merely one of many potential new and better life forms.

What, then, of egoism? What does it mean that I am aware of me when there is the possibility of near endless varieties of life, more complex and capable than me? For the first time in human history, this is not an idle speculation or a wild imagining from a science fiction writer. We do recognize our growing abilities to experiment with life and soon to create life. What of the soul? What of death when we have a regenerative life form that does not age?

Our egoism regarding our awareness of self remains intact. Indeed, our sense of self, and of self-determination, improves. The ability to create better forms of life is no reason to be fearful or depressed. It is an overwhelming reason to experience joy. We overcome most of human limitations and most of the ignorance from our past. We also open up a vast and new set of challenging questions.

Moving away from where we are can be very comfortable. Consider the future ability to have in vitro DNA modification of ova, followed by fertilization, uterine implant and a normal pregnancy. We can change gradually and genetically, such that the changes will not be extreme within any period of a few generations. This is the path to eliminating known genetic problems like sickle-cell anemia or so-called congenital heart problems. This will also be the method for vastly improving our immune systems, and our mental prowess. Once captured genetically by both parents, each following generation will carry those characteristics.

Do you want your future children or grandchildren, etc., to have a better opportunity to experience and enjoy life by being inherently more capable and healthy? Is not your ego enhanced by the understanding that you not only are, but that you or your progeny will be, contributors to the future of Humanity?

Did the ancient Greeks dream about flying? Did not one of their writers tell a story about a person making wings and flying? Indeed, he did. And the writer cautioned us about flying too close to the sun. What future will we write for Humanity?