Think about it – are we not, as a species, prone to self-centered behavior? The more enlightened amongst us might very well sacrifice for “the good of humanity” but, as time has proven, people do not understand what will actually make them happy and humanity as a whole does not strive for much beyond comfortable living (even as the possibility thereof is sabotaged by the actions of religious factions, political factions, and smaller self-serving factions).

I am merely suggesting that our limited capabilities and existences should be held less dearly until we transcend our regressively violent and wasteful tendencies (if such a thing is possible) – see also: On Humanity.

i reiterate that i think the perspective that you’re elucidating is artificial. this is not to say it’s “fake”, but just to say it’s constructed by a mind without any real-world precedent (which is what i mean by meaningless — having no physical-expression). there is no transcendental being (as far as i can see) that’s judging what’s significant and what’s not. to say, “objectively such-and-such doesn’t matter” is to take an imaginary perspective (to try and assume a position OUTSIDE yourself and then JUDGE yourself by it is abstracted from reality in the 2nd degree). i’m suggesting that it’s an interesting thought exercise, but you don’t have to put the bleak spin on it. what we DO know, if we know anything at all, is that some things are important to us.

i understand that people might reflect on the cosmos or the grandeur of the universe and be humbled. i’m not sure how you can take these facts as evidence that one should or shouldn’t behave a certain way though. you might say that one should see their short-comings on a grander scale and strive to be more than infinitesimal (even in vain) or one could see the other side of the coin and think, “FUCK IT! why not just try to live comfortably before i die?” i think that maintaining a sense of life’s importance and others’ significance isn’t a detriment to one’s “quality of life” or anything else. i’m not sure what “greater meaning” there is than that, but i’m open to suggestions.

Nihilism (pronounced /ˈnaɪ.əˌlɪzəm/ or /ˈni.əˌlɪzəm/; from the Latin nihil, nothing) is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.
- Nihilism at Wikipedia.org

Infinitesimals have been used to express the idea of objects so small that there is no way to see them or to measure them.
In common speech, an infinitesimal object is an object which is smaller than any feasible measurement, hence not zero size, but so small that it cannot be distinguished from zero by any available means.
- Infinitesimal at Wikipedia.org

If you are arguing that the experience of all humanity or the task of meeting every person who has ever lived is a construct, I can see where you’re coming from but I must maintain that your expressed views represent the lack of perspective critiqued:

You hardly even matter in the solipsist dream you like to pretend the rest of us trespass upon…

… thence the need to transcend hard-wired cognitive bias.

How will our species ever amount to more than a self-centered and hypocritical colony of internecine resource-wasters if we continuously fail to grasp the big picture or consider what it really means to be human?

I honestly believe the things we’ve ascribed “greater meaning” to need to be razed and replaced with something more meaningful than unrestrained procreation, religious zealotry, or what-have-you.

If we can’t come up with a better reason for existing than our forebearers (“Because I don’t want to die.”) I can accept that – thus far it’s the most reasonable meaning we’ve been able to muster without imagining ourselves some supernatural purpose or powers – but that intrinsic raison d’etre isn’t going to inspire me to do much more than exist as comfortably as I can until my body fails me… and that ultimate strategy, applied one hundred billion times over, has a lot to do with our present predicaments.

it just so happens that we share many values because we all have similar needs and we can take for granted statements like “exercise is important”, “killing is bad” and “chocolate is good”. if one could transcend themselves (a meaningless hypothetical), sure everything would be for naught, but i don’t think it’s really applicable to our lives.