At the end of the day, every man is an island unto himself. Even as we are surrounded by family, strangers, friends, enemies, whoever, there is no one who ever truly understands another entirely. Which is what drove Agastya Sen to his peculiar state of mind in that classic book, English, August (recommended to those of you who haven't already read it). Anyway, wrong road to go down on, since this post is about something quite different.
A couple of weeks ago, thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists spotted a planet, called HD 189733b, 63 light years away which has carbon dioxide and water vapour in its atmosphere. These are both among organic compounds referred to as chemical biotracers of life, and scientists are really excited at this discovery, since it means a big step in the the process of trying to find extraterrestrial life.
I have to say, I find it quite fascinating, the methods these scientists use to arrive at conclusions about the existence of one particle of carbon dioxide among a million random particles 63 light years away. It shows that some of us are actually pretty smart, and that even with our limited means of observation, we can still make some fantastic conclusions. So far, so good.
Oh, on a similar note, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has also found carbonates, evidence for a water environment capable of supporting life on the red planet. And the scientists say that there are increased possibilities, as a consequence of this find, that life did start on Mars at some point.
Of course, if they manage to prove the existence of life anywhere else in the universe at any point of time, it will be a welcome slap in the face for most religions that advocate man as the favourite creation of god, given the earth to plunder as he liked. But there is another aspect of this issue, a scientific one, that bothers me slightly.
While I totally laud the work done by these astronomers and the associated scientific faculty to find evidence of extra-terrestrial life, I can't help but criticise the assumption that these same people make about organic life being the only possible life form. I know its a start, and a sensible one at that, given our own limitations not just of observation, but even of thought. But all the same, I somehow expect the scientific community to rise beyond its own philosophical limitations. May be it is too much to ask for.
In the meanwhile, here's to anal-probing aliens!
Posts
4 comments:
*this is the comment no one was waiting for*
yes yes, i understand the eagerness for a new post. it will come soon.
we are all born alone, we die alone. this doesn't preclude anything, but should serve as a guiding principle. i think the main principle guiding the search for life elsewhere, just as the search for god, is rooted in fear; fear of being alone. it's almost as if we wanted proof, absolute proof, that we, as an individual, are not alone. and any means that provides this affirmation, well, it should quite obvious why there is a pursuit in its practice.
hmmm... maybe it is the fear of loneliness that drives this search. maybe its the search for absolute proof that we are after all, the chosen ones by dear god, and to silence the critics for once and for all. who knows? as for being born and dying alone, i am not too sure about everyone. consider quintuplets and the like, sharing even womb-space, as if the shared bedroom later in life weren't enough. and while the philosophical lone nature of death can't be easily refuted, the physical manifestation of it can take away from 'loneliness'. refer to victims of large accidents, like a plane crash killing hundreds, or even something like the holocaust.
of course, all that said, i still maintain that each one of us is mostly an island unto ourselves, as beautifully elucidated by upamanyu sen.
Post a Comment