But even then, what is a mere 2,000,000 years, even 5,000,000 years, in the history of a planet six billion years of age?  What mighty species might have evolved in the seas or on the continents of this world, might have learned to think and to speak, to build towering cities and construct great engines, to compose eloquent poems and paint magnificent images… and then have disappeared, leaving behind no evidence that ever they had walked this Earth… or at least, no evidence of which we are aware? — from Terrors, by Richard A. Lupoff

One of the main Lovecraftian themes which really resonates with me is the concept of “deep time” and the insignificance of man in relation to the cosmos.  In comparison to the universe or even to Earth, humans’ time on this planet is very short.

Just how short is it?  As per the “earth clock” below, with Earth forming at midnight and then midnight 24 hours later as the present day, mankind’s time on this planet amounts to a mere 1 minute and 17 seconds:

Even the dinosaurs do not appear until 10:56pm.  And all of this is not even taking into account the billions of years that the universe existed before Earth even formed.

The amount of time that we humans have been around in relation to the age of the Earth is a mere eye-blink.  And a question that I often ponder is: If the universe has been around just short of forever (and it has), does it not stand to reason that in the ancient mists of time, creatures evolved to god-like status long before our ancestors crawled out of the ocean?  Creatures who don’t care about us, who are to us as we are to ants?  Creatures with desires, powers, and motivations that are so utterly alien to us that we could never understand them?

What are your thoughts on this?  Comment below!