Singularities

 (this article originally appeared on the blog 'Lord of the Flies')

Black holes are not known for equilibrium. Or white holes. But the universe loves equilibrium and will not quit till it is achieved. The entropy will keep increasing till it cannot any longer. No matter how much we would love to disagree, we humans, with our various Gods, are not above this. Yes, we can keep ice frozen in a refrigerator when the sun is burning outside, but for how long? We will soon run out of fuel. We don’t have the power to defy the universe. 

It is true that living beings appear to go against the laws of the universe through the very act of propagation but it is more than made up for by the fact that they use up a huge amount of fuel during their lifetime and render it useless for any other utilisation.  Hence, the net entropy or disorder in the universe continues to increase. But this is a purely scientific concept and on its own, a very difficult topic to consider while worrying about humanities. At best, it only encourages us to use less petrol and try switching on to alternative forms of energy. Is that all there is to it? 

Ironically, we haven’t been able to see through a pattern so well repeated in History. Empires rose. And then fell. Why didn’t they keep growing forever? How long can greatness last? And why is the fall inevitable? 

More than seven thousand years ago, from blood, sweat and dust rose the magnificent pyramids of Egypt, boldly proclaiming to the world the possession of enormous power. But they treated their slaves badly and what befell them? Wouldn’t the story have been different had the development in technology gone hand in hand with some development in humanism? 

To the east beyond Mesopotamia was the Indus Valley Civilisation. Amazing urban planning complete with water supply and drainage system that parallel those of today. Also, one shouldn’t forget the auditoriums and the grain storage system. Sadly, all’s left in ruins and we haven’t even deciphered the script yet. They were amazing artists, craftsmen, traders and farmers. Guess what they forgot? The army! Too bad the rest of the world didn’t share their philosophy. 

The ruthless Indian Emperor Ashoka who after building his huge empire was all of a sudden struck with the realisation of the amount of cruelty he must have unleashed, gave up arms and meat and turned to Buddhism. He made his people Buddhist and also took efforts to spread Buddhism far and wide. His religious message remains but not in his own kingdom. Did he ACTUALLY think that such a huge Buddhist empire, with its goal being only peace, would just sustain itself when kings of other lands were looking to expand their territories and the barbaric tribes were having the time of their lives? 

Fast forward. The capitalists actually thought they would grow forever. People actually thought slaves would be forever. 

Hitler believed that he could conquer the whole world and persecute all Jews. Israelis might believe Palestinians don’t need to exist but they do and the conflict continues. America used to believe that it can continue growing with its capitalistic policies and continue to fight wars away from home, while still remaining invincible; but 9/11 shattered that image. Today America doesn’t even want to participate in cutting down greenhouse gas emissions but guess who is closer to the North Pole? 

Far away in a remote African village they don’t have the concept of money (from hearsay). They have developed their trust, honesty and understanding skills to such advanced levels that they don’t really need money. What a wonderful system! What’s your best guess till they die out? 

I am not trying to be pessimistic here; I’m just trying to look practically at the fact that most ‘victories’ have been failures in the long run. All these stories may seem very different from one another but there is a single vein that runs through all of them, they all have certainly made the same common mistake: they were not inclusive. The Egyptians were not inclusive of the happiness of their slaves. The Indus Valley people just shut themselves inside closed doors and tried to create luxury for themselves forgetting about practical necessity. While Ashoka basked in the glory of a great philosophy that was nevertheless quite useless during his times, not inclusive of the conditions elsewhere in the world. Obviously terrorists will have an eye on America if they perceive its growth unfair. No power can grow infinitely at the cost of others; the Universe has time and again taught us this. Developed countries should sincerely help the developing and the underdeveloped countries, and the developing countries should give their hand of support to the underdeveloped ones. As about the African village, if something no matter how good it is stands out as an oddity, it most definitely is an oddity or singularity, and being so renders it very unstable. That’s the reason growth and development must be inclusive, we must always try to take everybody along with us as we march forward (not that everyone should become the exact same but no one should have more advantages or disadvantages). If we leave anybody out they are always going to harm us, even if unintentionally. And no, you can’t make them extinct- it never happens. 

We live in this world with millions of other people and share the resources of our planet. We should think how we can mutually benefit each other instead of thinking how much profit we can make from the other person, or thinking about improving our own selves all the time without bothering about the people around. The Indus Valley people can make the excuse that they did not ‘know’ that the world around them was way behind, but we can’t. We most certainly know that not everybody in the world is in a position to appreciate our kind-hearted philosophy and we must not pretend so until we have brought everyone up to the same level. If we repeat the same mistakes it will only be our foolishness. 

Of course we don’t know about aliens that might be lurking elsewhere in the Universe and we most definitely can’t include them in our "growth". But we need to group together to create a benevolent planet for ourselves that is so much united (probably plants and animals too, along with humans) that we are prepared to face any kind of situation that may arise. What dangers the aliens might possess for us we are yet to see. And we probably will, unless we stupidly commit suicide before that.