How Some Facts Bring Us Closer to the Divine

They produce awe and wonder, bring perspective and awaken curiosity

As a teacher, I reject the idea that there’s no need to learn facts. I believe facts help us be more critical and analytical because they give us a basis for forming questions and opinions.

Beyond this, facts are magical in other ways. They awaken curiosity, and produce wonder, awe and exaltation. They give us perspective about our place in the vastness of time, space and the physical world. They show us how unique, connected and extraordinary the world is.

Consider these facts:

1. There are about 37 trillion cells in the human body.
2. The human genome contains about 20,687 genes.
3. π= 3.1416
4. The human body has about 60,000 kilometers (around 37,000 miles) of blood vessels.
5. The brain represents 2% of our body weight, yet uses up 25% of the energy we consume every day.
6. It takes sunlight about 8 minutes and 20 seconds to get from the sun to us.
7. The human genome has thousands fewer genes than corn, rice or wheat.

There are 37 trillion cells in the human body

That’s 37 with 12 zeros to the right of it. Each cell has the same DNA but they all do different things. Some cells make up our stomach; others our bones, brain, gall bladder, skin and every other part of our bodies. Somehow, they have the information to know when to die, divide, digest, contract, secrete, etc. And they all come from an egg and sperm that formed one initial cell.

If this doesn’t seem amazing to you, I don’t know what would.

The human genome contains about 20,687 genes

That fact that scientists know the number of genes in the human genome is around 20,687 is astounding to me.

π= 3.1416

I could never get over the concept of Pi. It almost seems made up. For every single circle, no matter how tiny or gigantic, its circumference divided by its diameter is always Pi. Plus Pi’s decimals are infinite.

This fact makes my brain explode!

The human body has about 60,000 kilometers (around 37,000 miles) of blood vessels

Google how wide the US is from coast to coast and you’ll get 2,800 miles. So, if you line up all the veins, arteries and capillaries of one human body, they will traverse the US thirteen times!!!

Think about that when you’re stressed out and your mind will have no room to ponder anything else.

The brain represents 2% of our body weight yet uses up 25% of the energy we consume every day

When you next sit down to eat, know that a quarter of the calories you’re consuming will be used up by your brain.

Does this not make you feel a bit smarter? Is the human brain not the most incredible structure?

It takes sunlight about 8 minutes and 20 seconds to get from the sun to us

Just imagine: every time you look up at the sun or any celestial body, you are time traveling. And when you look up at the stars at night, you’re looking into different time dimensions.

Mind boggling, no?

The human genome has thousands fewer genes than corn, rice or wheat

I’m not in the habit of recording when or how I learned each fact I’ve noted. I know the source of this one only because I jotted it down along with a quote from the book I learned it from:

“The difference between ‘human’ and ‘breakfast cereal” is not a matter of gene numbers, but of the sophistication of gene networks. It is not what we have; it is how we use it.” (Sidhartha Mukherjee, in The Gene: An Intimate History)

This always makes me ponder: How am I using the resources I do have? How am I spending my money, abilities and time?

Finally, I believe facts also bring us closer to the divine, whether you call it Allah, Nature, the Source or God. They make us feel that, somehow, everything’s interconnected and that there’s much knowledge beyond the grasp of the human mind.