I Wonder...

Considering what we know is so little and what we don’t know so much, one would think the latter to be that much more powerful. Yet usually it is the other way round.

I remember Grandma telling me once that reincarnation exists, that we start with the smallest, the most apparently insignificant of organisms, and ultimately earn the honour, the prize of being reincarnated as a human. Come to think of it, isn’t it amazingly close to the concept of Evolution? Moving on from single-celled organisms to Human Beings? Of course each theory has its own set of assumptions, fallacies and merits which I cannot even begin to analyze, let alone dispute, due to my lack of knowledge thereof. Yet, I cannot help but notice the central idea being common to both. Entirely opposing ideas, yet so close in their essence, fascinating.

During a discussion with a friend, I remember asking, “Ohkay, maybe Mahabharata did really happen, but, hundred Kauravas born from earthen pots, really? Or people on flying chariots? Arrows that burst in flames, or lightning as a weapon, how can one explain any of this?” The reply I got has kind of stuck on, it never fails to amaze me. “These are literary interpretations, that got distorted or exaggerated due to a multitude of reasons over many, many years; but think about it: What if technology at that time had advanced to stages where the Kauravas were born as test tube babies? What if the earthen pots were indeed the “test tubes” of that time? What if, some sort of airplanes had been invented then that were seen as flying chariots? What if they had made weapons using explosives that appeared as arrows that spit fire and what if they had made weapons that harnessed electricity to attack? Technology doesn’t only need to be invented but also sustained, maybe for various social, natural or economic reasons these could not be sustained or spread out.”

When I was in the fourth standard, we were being taught about our Solar System. A statement was made: “Life on Earth exists as it is the only planet in our Solar System with optimal conditions for life.” I stood up and asked what the word optimal meant, I had guessed it from the context, yet I needed to confirm before I could ask the question that had struck me instantly. On being satisfied that my guess was correct I asked, “What if there are aliens that do not need the same things as us to survive? What if they need something else in place of oxygen or water? What if they need the extreme cold or extreme hot temperatures? Life outside the Earth need not be the same as on Earth. So why look for water or oxygen to confirm life outside? Maybe they really don’t need that, maybe even if they exist we cannot see them, they might be made of something that is invisible to us.” Some of my friends started giggling, and my class teacher smiled and said, “Priyanka, you really need to watch less of Cartoon Network.” And the discussion ended. Well, maybe all that I had said did really stem from excess of cartoons and storybooks, and maybe it doesn’t really make much sense; but till now, the confusion stays on. Why do we equate everything else to what we know? Why do facts have to fall within our domain to be rendered credible? Why would an alien have to need oxygen, or water or a temperature acceptable to us?

All this is speculation, but what is to say that it holds no truth? If certain stories, myths or yet-to-be-accepted-ideas have stood the test of time, surely they deserve some faith. Faith, as opposed to superstition or cynicism. Wouldn’t life be so much simpler if we realized that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence? If we could accept that there are things we don’t know or don’t understand. If we look at new ideas with wonder than with resistance? One doesn’t need to just accept whatever one is told, that’d be downright stupid, but being stubborn about your opinion no matter what isn’t much better either.

Of course I have my own set of beliefs, opinions and ideas. But so does my neighbour and their neighbour and so on. Who am I to decide they are wrong? Similarly, who are they to decide that either?

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.  

– Albert Einstein

P.S.: There is so much more I could write about this, but some other time, for now, I must get back to “Reality”. Till then, some food for thought: We usually judge people as smart on the basis of what they know, yet geniuses have an indisputable track record of being those who went about looking for what they didn’t know. So long!