The Grand Design

Seasons past by, days go by ...life stays still...Till it's a farewell.

Life as we say is a journey. The journey which ends in death. But every journey has a destination. After all, whatever we do, all we achieve is death. There is no respite, there are seemingly no options. One has to die, and that is it. So how come we chose death as our destination. Death can’t be a destination. We don't live to die. We live to achieve, achieve a name, achieve fame, becoming a parent, taking the generation forward, playing our part and then leave. I guess life is not a journey, it’s rather a play. And we are just actors in the play of life or the universe as a whole. Each of us plays a small part in it. Some of us because of our talents might get an important role, but no one can extend his part. That is fixed. The play has been going on since millions of years, and will go on for millions of years more.

Let's think of it. We started as cave dwellers, roaming and hunting for food. Humanity has progressed a lot since then .The knowledge has been accumulated in each of the generations and passed on the next generation. Every generations test the accumulated knowledge with its own add ins and invention, verifies and edit and then pass it on to the next generation. The knowledge that cannot survive the test of time and ideas is left behind and replaced by new ideas. It has been going on for thousands of years. This seems an eternal process. Step by Step humanity is progressing , revealing the secrets hidden behind by the  universe itself , so that the actors of each generation have a part to play in revealing them little by little , keeping the play interesting

Science, art, philosophy, and every other stream have seemingly progressed enriching themselves with new ideas and discoveries. We definitely know much more today than say hundred years ago. The generations before were not wrong, neither ignorant. But they can only work with knowledge accumulated by the generations before them. They played their part and that is why people like Einstein and Stephen Hawkins can propose their theories. I think in our morbidity of life, there is a larger purpose at play. The play has to have a conclusion, maybe someday it will. And each of us will play our own little part in achieving the conclusion.

According to Stephen Hawkins latest offering “the Grand Design “we are all part of a grand design. We all evolved by the interplay of the laws of physics , that have stayed true from the beginning or so called Big Bang and till this point. And they will remain true till the end. It’s fascinating to read the thoughts of this great scientist. I could never guess in school that the Heinsberg Uncertainty Principle, and the special theory of relativity, which i struggled to mug up has such wider implications to the world or the universe. It can have implications like time travel, multiple universes, and so on. If I can get fascinated by reading about it now, imagine how fascinated we would have been as students, if only, if only our teachers only knew how to generate interest, and were not just concentrating over finishing the periods.
  

Anyhow, according to Hawkins, if we consider ours as the only universe then our creation is really a special event. Since it means that from the beginning of Universe every condition has just been right to the minutest detail to support life on earth. Had there been any slight variations, in the early universe, there would not have been life on earth.So many people can think of it, as a proof of existence of god. However this also has to be understood that all laws of physics stayed true from the origin of time, till the moment. However amazingly, according to very recent findings, and the so called the M theory, which might be called the mother of all theories, ours is not the only universe that exist. There are numerous universes which might be slightly or greatly different from ours, supporting many probabilities and time quotients. So there can be a universe in which I am already dead, and another one in which my laptop just burst at this moment. These universes might also be having different laws of physics, not like ours.

I don't want to discuss theoretical physics here. Its too wide and complex subject and much beyond my realm of talent. However, it is not difficult to see the progression of humanity in terms of knowledge. I just want to extrapolate this progression to say 500 years ahead. I just wonder how much knowledge that generation would have encompassed. 

 

We all are playing our part in that accumulation of knowledge. So all these laws of physics, who are the real directors of this enormous play, will someday bring us to any conclusion. Can knowledge have limit, a conclusion. Can there be someday, when there is nothing more for the world to know, nothing more for the world to discover and accumulate. The easiest answer is no, it cannot happen. There will always be something, and may be humanity won’t survive the day to discover all the answers. However may be from the ruins and rumbles of humanity, some beings from other planets or even universe, can continue the process of accumulation of knowledge. It might look like a science fiction; however it’s not out of the bounds of possibility and probability.

In the context of the whole Universe, or as we have just discovered, multiple universes, we are as small as a drop in an ocean. So I would it’s difficult to believe that the whole Universe has been created just to support us i.e. Human Life. Won’t it be a huge waste of resources?  In that case god does not have an auditor. There are still huge mysteries sitting on our head regarding our existence and the existence of the universe. But if we see the larger picture, we could understand the coherent events that are leading towards the progression of knowledge. Be it the movement of the world towards democracy and consumerism from monarchies and socialism, creation of religions or the race for capturing resources beyond our planet. Democracy and consumerism are far more conductive for knowledge generation than socialism and monarchies, in which science and knowledge is domain of the chosen few.

For some it might look as the cheap capitalism; however no one would disagree that this cheap capitalism accelerated the process of knowledge generation, accumulation and assimilation. As for religions, however meaningless and bizarre they might look to the men of science, it’s them that helped human kind to survive from the very true possibility of self destruction. It also gave human the hope out of the utter dismay death brings with itself. In the context of the Universe, the only value of humanity as a whole is the knowledge it has gathered over thousands of years. Hence by this theory we are all part of a larger design, design that will one day lead the universe to a conclusion. Each of us plays a part in it. If by nothing else, but supporting the chosen few to keep the process of progression of knowledge going forward.

Thirst for Knowledge

Contained within a single dewdrop tear is a world of education. Mother nature dips her hands into the pool of learning, and as she opens them a mother is revealed bestowing the most precious of gifts to her child – knowledge. The young have a thirst for information which must be fed, and lessons that we learn in youth will map our route through life.
 

Purpose of Life

What’s the meaning of life? One of my good friends put this question on Facebook. Though I tried to answer it, by what came to my mind at that time, I still could not convince myself to my own answer. I essentially wrote that individually our life does not have any meaning, however people who we love, or who loves us, gives the meaning to our lives and vice-versa. We could see how our parents work to the limits just to make our life better. How we take up anything just to help our loved ones. Individual happiness comes from the ability to be loved or giving love. For some the sphere of loved ones is their close family and friends and their pets. This is their lives; these are the ones who give meaning to their lives. However for some, there is a wider sphere, those who are highly involved in social work and are genuinely devoted to it. They are great people and their lives give meaning to so many others. However what I was trying to understand is where we stand as individuals. Individually, how can i define or give meaning to my life.

 I have already spent half of my life just getting myself equipped to lead the other half. Is it worth the effort? But what else is the option anyways. Some say that putting your foot prints in history is one way of doing that. Some talk about the creation, invention, discovery .For some just an idea defines their lives. Scientists could spend their whole lives in laboratories, passionately working for something new and novel. Sometimes they could spend half their lives, finding solutions to complex mathematical riddles, and rest of their lives defending their solutions to the world. So a mathematical equation can give meaning to the life of some. For environmentalists, the effort in saving one species from extinction is worth giving the life for. I could not believe that money can give meaning to anyone's life. But power can, and most of the times money can buy power. For big industrialists, it’s their passion to keep themselves on top of the league, and not the money that gives the meaning to their lives. However not everyone can find such meanings to their lives. They are privileged lot. Most of all and sundry, the family and loved ones definition is the one that fits well. Religion talks about Moksha or the ultimate unification with god as the life's ultimate aim. So as I have spent half my life getting equipped for the other half, they spend whole their lives getting equipped for the next life , or the fate after death in which they believe in.

So where that brings us. I guess it means that every individual has to get or rather search for his or her won meaning of life. Love and well being of friends and family apart, it's something more, that should define your life. Mostly it's something that you love, or are passionate about. It can be devotion to religion, or passion for sports. Most of us are not lucky enough to get a job that could forward our passion. Making a living is as important .However there is nothing better than doing what you like to do.

I am jealous of those scientists or someone like archaeologists who are so passionately always working to find something elusive and unknown. I am jealous of those musicians or artists who are always looking for creating something new and novel. I wish I had the talents of those. We all are born with distinct and unique talents. However it's upon us to find that and bring it out, lest we live our lives without the knowledge of even having them. It's not for the world. We don't have to prove anything to anyone. It's for us only. We all should find our calling in life. That is something which gives us the ultimate happiness. I have made my efforts to bring some meaning to my life. However sometimes i feel that I wasted a little too much time already. Anyhow I am not giving up. I will find this meaning however elusive it would be. Because without it my life will always be hollow and incomplete.