Observatory:Apropos Diana Athill

drawing by Marguerita from series Zyg and Mea a graphic novel

So, I went to the bookstore and got Diana Athill's Somewhere Towards the End.I am marvelling through her thoughts and writing , as I read her words.On page 42,she mentions John Updike who writes about our planet being a mere speck in that small universe which we are capable of perceiving ,and that Homo Sapiens has only existed for only a tiny fraction of that planet's tiny time ,and has not the slightest idea of what 90 per cent of the universe is made of ( I like scientists calling what they don't know 'dark matter'); so how can he , or any other intelligent person,fail to aggree that men are being absurdly kind to themselves when they suppose that something thought by them is universally relevant ( those religious people who believe in one god do seem to see him as universal , not as local to Earth)?
And given that the universe continues to be what it is , regardless of what we believe , and what always has been and will continue to be the condition of our existence, why should the thought of our smallness in it be boring - or, for that matter, frightening?
Surely the part of life which is within our range, the mere fact of life, is misterious and exciting enough in itself ?