As far as the consequences and results and ripple effects are concerned, we're no better or wiser than they are.

But you have got one thing right, after all. We DO get to choose. We decide what is right, what is worthwhile, what the meaning of life is. This is what I've always been preaching here! There is no right way, no principle, no real purpose. We decide, we define, we choose what matters. This is why there is no "correct" religion, or politics, or morality, or economics. There is no philosophy that trumps all the others.

We get to pick and choose what is right, what is truth, what is meaningful. The universe is totally subjective. There is no truth, except in nitpicky things, the kind that physicists study, the things that only matter to physicists.

Oh sure, if somebody's idea of what is right hurts us, or intrudes on our freedom, we are justified in stopping them, or even fighting back. But we recognize, by some form of simian common sense, that it is best to live and let live, to do whatever we please as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. But we also owe, like all good monkeys, a certain amount of loyalty to the tribe, and we have a duty to help keep the forest clean and peaceful--as best we can.

Beware the zealot, the fanatic, the one who knows what's best for the rest of us, and is determined to make sure we do it, no matter what.