@droyd: What you said makes sense to me. FWIW: My view is that we (as sentient beings) are one way in which the Universe has become sentient and so experiences itself. We are not apart from the Universe. We are a part of the Universe. There is nothing unnatural about anything that we do as a living species expressing our nature however, the consequences of our personal actions are both our personal responsibility and (as you point out) essentially done to ourselves. As an aside: There's an interesting question that comes from two assumptions. 1. The essential nature of Life is to live; living things avoid death. 1. The laws of thermodynamics are correct. Given one and two, the Universe (as a living, sentient system) has become aware of its own mortality. Does the Universe want to die?