We can make plans, we can govern ourselves, we can invent and innovate, but all of it is done within the confines of natural laws. We don’t get to decide how the universe works—we only get to decide how to work within it.

We all have models in our minds about the nature of reality, although none of us sees it exactly the same way. But reality doesn’t change, regardless of whether we agree on its nature or not. Reality doesn’t care what we believe about it. It’s up to us to adapt to it.