In 2018, the Planck mission delivered our most precise measurement of the universe’s age yet: 13.787 billion years, with an uncertainty of only ±0.020 billion years, a precision of ~0.15%. Earth did not form until nearly 10 billion years later (about 4.54 billion years ago). Humans, as a distinct species, emerged only 300,000 years ago.
This means we have existed for just 0.002% of the universe’s lifetime so far. We are a fleeting moment in a cosmic story billions upon billions of years in the making.