Beyond Sagan: Reframing the Mayfly Metaphor: By Richard Lee Crowton | Crowton Theory: Date 15/07/25

Carl Sagan once said that humans are like mayflies — fleeting creatures living out their entire lives in the course of a single day when measured against the lifespan of a star. It’s a powerful image, one that humbles us by placing our existence in a broader cosmic context.

But I’d go further.What if it’s not a day?What if it’s an hour?What if our consciousness is just a flicker — a momentary flash in the eye of a star, gone before it’s even registered?

The Shift from Wonder to Realism

Sagan’s metaphor, beautiful and sobering, still retained a sense of wonder. It allowed us to feel small, yes — but also significant in our awareness of that smallness. My reinterpretation of this metaphor, now dubbed Crowton Theory, takes that a step further. It reframes the conversation from human-centered awe to cosmic-scale realism.

In doing so, it introduces a perspective that is not just humbling — it’s nearly erasing. Where Sagan inspired reverence for our brief role in the grand play of the universe, Crowton Theory poses a harsher truth: we may not even be noticed at all.

The Astrophysical Support: From Metaphor to Measurement

This isn’t just poetic speculation. The idea aligns with current astrophysical evidence. Sagan’s metaphor used a 1:100 million ratio — comparing a 100-year human life to a 10-billion-year stellar lifespan. But if we take that “day” metaphor literally and condense a star’s life into 24 hours, then the human lifespan becomes just an hour — or even less.

Recent studies bolster this reframe:

• 2023 Astrophysical Journal research confirmed that stellar evolution cycles (main-sequence, red giant phases, etc.) operate on scales that render human lifespans virtually imperceptible.

• 2025 observations of early planet formation in stellar nurseries suggested that cosmic processes are entirely indifferent to human timelines.

• June 2025 discovery of a massive intergalactic gas filament connecting galaxy clusters showed a universe operating on structures and timescales that dwarf even the lifespans of stars.

  
  

In this light, the “hour” is generous. A true cosmic clock might not even register us.

Challenging Anthropocentrism

Sagan’s view, though humbling, still placed us within the cosmic story — as a sentient species capable of contemplating its own fleetingness. Crowton Theory challenges that.

It proposes that human awareness — our collective history, memories, art, science, and thoughts — may be no more consequential than the static of a dying signal. A flicker that appears and vanishes before it can interact with the broader processes unfolding across the universe.

This isn’t nihilism. It’s realism — an invitation to see ourselves not just as small, but as possibly unnoticed by the cosmos at all.

Why This Matters

Why propose such a stark view? Because understanding our insignificance helps frame the true scale of reality. It also gives us a clearer sense of what Crowton’s Cosmogenic Field Theory explores at its core: the regenerative, impersonal, and non-anthropocentric nature of cosmic processes.

In this light, our awareness may be a byproduct — not a driver — of cosmic evolution. That’s a sobering yet scientifically plausible idea.

Final Thought

Carl Sagan once asked us to marvel at the fact that we were here to witness the cosmos. But perhaps Crowton Theory suggests something else:

We may not be witnesses.We may just be echoes —blinking in and outin the time it takes a star to blink once.