Should Indians Abandon Earth?
My interest in science and space in particular grew exponentially as I started watching the television show Cosmos presented by renowned astronomer and astrophysicist Carl Sagan in the mid eighties. I am not sure whether programs such as these are shown on Indian television anymore. But people of my generation will be forever grateful for the University Grants Commission (UGC) television for bringing cutting edge science and technology programs from across the world to living rooms in India long before there was cable or satellite television.
I have often wondered as I still do about the future of our species. Is there a future and if so what will it be like? The history of planet earth and all the species that have lived on it at one point and those that continue to survive provide valuable clues as to what would happen to the human species in the future. I am one of those who believe that our “intelligence” comes with a lot of baggage. We as a species “worry” because we know and understand nature to some extent. But we fail to realize that just because we “know” does not mean that we can do anything about it. So what is the point in worrying?
As a teenager I remember reading “A Brief History of Time” by physicist Stephen Hawking. The book is a must read and very enlightening. Stephen Hawking has the ability to explain complicated subjects like the big bang, black holes and the concept of time in an easy to understand language. His work and his own battle with debilitating diseases have been inspirational for those who follow him like me.
Recently Hawkings made a few statements that took me by surprise. In an interview with Big Think he said “Our population and our use of the finite resources of planet Earth are growing exponentially, along with our technical ability to change the environment for good or ill. But our genetic code still carries the selfish and aggressive instincts that were of survival advantage in the past. It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million. Our only chance of long term survival is not to remain inward looking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space”. Are these observations by the physicist based on science or is it wishful thinking?
Human beings and all that makes the Earth are closely tied to each other. If we were to live in a space ship or live in another planet without all that the Earth has to offer then will it still be fair to call ourselves “Human Beings”? Hawkings “theory of survival” also implies that a vast majority of us will have to remain on earth and will be destroyed along with our friends, families, culture, language and history (due to the simple fact that 6 billion or so humans who inhabit the earth cannot be sent to space). Isn’t this price heavier than the price of the human disasters that Hawkings is worried about?
Let us assume that we do colonize the space around us in the next 200 years (as Hawkings wants us to do). Will that ensure our survival? Will the Christian-Muslim issues go away just because Christians and Muslims now live in human colonies on the Moon? Will all the caste issues in the Hindu society disappear just because Indians are now orbiting the Sun in a space station built by the Government of India?
Colonizing space is a form of escapism but not the right way to ensure survival. When we colonize space all we are doing is transferring human tendencies that created the mess in the first place from the Earth to the Moon or other planets.
The reality is that we are a long way away from colonizing anything (not just 200 years as Hawking predicts). The countries that have the basic technology to experiment with these concepts are facing dire economic situations. In fact we have regressed in the past few decades. Today NASA cannot send a man to the Moon and the NASA space shuttle program has ended without a replacement.
In science before performing an expensive experiment, much smaller scale and less expensive experiments must be successfully conducted. So before we try to populate space we should be able to show here on Earth that we can get along, that we can settle our differences peacefully and that we know how to be a part of nature.
All hope is not lost. Human survival is almost guaranteed unless something catastrophic happens in the next 20 years. It is not going to happen the way Hawking wants to. The sad reality is that most life on Earth will end either because of the ecological damages that we have caused, by fast spreading diseases, by an asteroid hitting the earth or the Sun running out of energy. But scientists in labs all over the world have been very successful in understanding the basic fabric of life and in recreating simple life forms in labs. Animals have been cloned and recently a lab has been able to grow certain human body parts. It is only a matter of time before we master the technology to create and sustain human life.
In the near future we might launch shuttles with all the basic materials that are needed to create human life. This vehicle will also have the necessary instructions and equipment. These shuttles will wander all over space long after the Earth as we know it is over. Someone or something will come across this vehicle, follow the instructions and create us again. The new “us” will refer to that someone or something as Gods!!
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change” – Charles Darwin
Related posts:
- The Human Black Hole
- Indians are weak in Science and Innovation
- Astrology in India: From a Nation of Science to a Nation of Idiots
- Cheap Computer For Illiterate Indians
- History of India: The First Indians
Category: Culture & Religion
Depending on my mood, I sometimes feel that the human species will survive or it won’t :)
Sometimes I feel that the threats you’ve mentioned like climate change etc will finish us – but then I also think that it won’t result in our extermination. What will be far more devastating is an asteroid of something of the sort.
But then on other occasions I feel that its not human life that’s important, but life in general. And when I’m really low, I get depressed knowing that ultimately everything is going to end!
As a species, we’re also incredibly stupid in a collective sense. The prisoner’s dilemma prevents us from doing what’s in our own best interests together.
It’s all a big muddle :)
Very well said. I think that before we venture out to space we have to get our act together here on Earth. Let us see if we can fix Earth before we try to destroy the Moon or other planets.
By Darwin’s very own theory, humans are not the most adaptable to change; we change our environment to adapt to us. Wherever in space we may go, I am not sure we will adapt. What does that mean to the future of human species…?
Dabbling with nature must stop. There is no point going to space otherwise. If we cannot get along in a big planet what will happen in a spaceship or in a colony in Moon?