There’s a funny meme going around of Doctor Manhattan—an all-powerful character from DC Comics who transcends time—that comes to mind today. In this panel, he’s sitting on Mars, contemplating his existence and trying to understand humanity and purpose.
People love to use this panel to make hilarious points, but what fascinates me about its virality is something deeper. Doctor Manhattan represents both our desire to be in control of everything, and our fear that even if we were, we’d still be lost.
If an all-powerful, god-like being can’t figure things out… what chance do we have?
Today’s world events keep pulling me back to that panel—to that impossible puzzle.
Last night, as I was getting ready to turn in, news broke that, once again, someone was attempting to use violence as the ultimate solution. I’m grateful nothing happened—not a single person died—but I still struggle to see this as a win nonetheless.
We seem to be reaching a boiling point—the kind that leads to revolutions. Someone is willing to cross a country by train to try to change the world in the worst way possible, and yet we’re often asked to dismiss this as nothing more than individual lunacy.
In an ideal world, our thought leaders would adapt to these warning signs. They would recognize a harsh truth: rhetoric, without pragmatic action, only succeeds in one thing—creating extremists.
To be clear, it’s not that I don’t have gripes with those at the top. I do. I have no issue recognizing or calling out corruption. But I also believe that my words, as quiet as they may be, have to be expressed responsibly.
Violence has to be condemned—no ifs, no buts. The message has to be clear. Crystal clear. Driven home as if life itself depends on it… because it does.
History is a ruthless teacher. If we don’t take the time to learn from the past, we risk condemning our future—our kids’ future—while convincing ourselves we stand on the side of righteousness. We risk creating martyrs, fueling the wrong ideas, and planting resentment that can take generations to heal.
And like every “once in a lifetime” event, there will always be people ready to take advantage of it. People who won’t hesitate to accuse, to demonize, to “other,” and to seed even more hatred into an already divided society.
To make matters worse, the temptation to drink from the nectar of conspiracy is far too strong. But we shouldn’t give in so easily. If we truly value truth, we should demand evidence—not just accept ideas that validate our hatred or confirm our biases.
As individuals, we may not have the power to change everyone’s mind or to heal a fractured nation.
But we do have the power to change how we think—and how we react.
And maybe, just maybe, we have the power to help a few others do the same.
And maybe… that’s enough.
Because maybe the point was never to understand everything.
Maybe that’s where Doctor Manhattan went wrong.
He stood above it all—outside of time, outside of emotion, trying to solve humanity like a puzzle.
But we don’t live outside of it.
We live inside it.
Confused. Emotional. Limited. Human.
And maybe the answer isn’t to become like him… detached, analytical, mathematical.
Maybe the answer is to resist that entirely—and choose, consciously, to be better people anyway.
—MenO