The Star

“Early in the morning of January 23, 1999, a robotic telescope in New Mexico picked up a faint flash of light in the constellation Corona Borealis. Though just barely visible through binoculars, it turned out to be the most brilliant explosion ever witnessed by humanity. We could see it nine billion light-years away, more than halfway across the observable universe. If the event had instead taken place a few thousand light-years away, it would have been as bright as the midday sun, and it would have dosed Earth with enough radiation to kill off nearly every living thing.” Scientific American Magazine, December 2002, p.85

I suppose we should count our blessings that this explosion took place a great deal further than two thousand light-years away from us. But then I began to think that a sphere with a radius of two thousand light-years engulfs a tremendous volume of space. What are the chances that at least one civilization existed in the neighborhood of the explosion?

I was reminded by a short story titled, The Star, written some years ago by Arthur C. Clarke. If you’re still reading this post you might as well read the story. But do keep reading until the end. It can be found at:

http://www.geocities.com/su_englit/clarke_star.html

As I read the Scientific American article I kept thinking of the artifacts left by the exterminated civilization in Clarke’s story:

"We have examined many of these records, and brought to life for the first time in six thousand years the warmth and beauty of a civilization that in many ways must have been superior to our own. Perhaps they only showed us the best, and one can hardly blame them. But their worlds were very lovely, and their cities were built with a grace that matches anything of man’s. We have watched them at work and play, and listened to their musical speech sounding across the centuries. One scene is still before my eyes—a group of children on a beach of strange blue sand, playing in the waves as children play on Earth. Curious whip-like trees line the shore, and some very large animal is wading in the shallows yet attracting no attention at all.

And sinking into the sea, still warm and friendly and life‑giving, is the sun that will soon turn traitor and obliterate all this innocent happiness."

I wonder if that sudden flash of light in 1999 marked the end of entire civilizations? The question leads me to consider my own destiny, our destiny as a species, and our destiny as a planet of genetic brothers. Millions of years of evolution halted in a chance deluge of intense gamma radiation…Would it all have been for naught?

Wittgenstein wrote in his Tractus:

“…eternal life belongs to those who live in the present.”

Michael

Interesting insight Polemarchus,
makes one come to terms with their mortality. For some it’s a scary thought to imagine that something we may not even know of can destroy us within a blink of an eye. It makes me think how fasely adverted we are to our own desires, we still can’t control the wind, stop forest fires, protect buildings from tornados or earthquakes - there is effort into these areas but it is infinitesimally small in comparison to all the effort being put into gaining power and money for oneself, nor is it anything close to the amount of effort 99% of the worlds people put into hate, anger, jealousy, murder, stealing, boasting, competing, etc. If only we looked equally as often on ourselves as we do others and nature, I am convinced we would already have a form of protection not just against radiation from exploding stars but also against natural disasters. This protection would hopefully be in line with nature and its preservation.

Thinking about this star exploding also makes me think of life as a miracle. I get mad at myself when I feel down and depressed and can’t get myself out. I have everything going for me, people would kill to have the life I lead, the chances associated with me (sperm) making it to the egg and forming a zygote are astronomical. A zygote developing into a human has an 80% chance. But what about all the chances associated with life after you pop out (excuse my word usage)? We are all lottery winners of the greatest lottery in our solar system who don’t realize their fortune. Although I don’t like to use the word, miracle, I must say that life is a miracle for all of us.

Albert Einstein once said that:
“There are only two ways to live one’s life: One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

Polemarchus stated:

I am a believer in the Principle of Sufficient Reason, so I don’t think it would be for naught. For those reading this who don’t know what Sufficient Reason is, it is the belief that all things have a reason for being, or to use different words, nothing happens for no reason. I am not a hard determinist, but a soft determinist that hasn’t really been defined. I haven’t really thought it out but I don’t believe in absolute free will nor absolute determinist. I think they share in reality. But I do believe that things in the past should either be cherished, thought kindly of, or used to learn from - we should be careful with feelings of hate, jealousy, regret, shame, etc in reference to the past. I’m not saying, like Spinoza said, that we shouldn’t feel them, I am just saying that there are times where our minds are so fixated on something that we do not realize we are causing more harm than good. So I would say that a civilization that got wiped out by an exploding star, did so for good reason - something more complex than the explanation that they got wiped out for the good reason that the star exploded. To me there is no time and the fabric of space is interwoven in such ways that the exterminated civilization may be the key to solving the mysteries of the universe 50 centuries from now.

Polemarchus stated:

Given the radius of the explosion and nothing else, I would say the chances are good that the explosion harmed or destroyed a civilization. But considering the Drake Equation, which is used to estimate the possibilities of extra-terrestrial life in space I would say that there is a small chance, if any, that any other civilization other than us exists in the universe, so the answer would be that near 0 civilizations were harmed or destroyed by the explosion. For those interested, the basic theory of the Drake Equation is that you take the number of years a civilization survives and you get the number of civilizations within the universe. For example, let’s say the dinosaurs lived for 100 million years before they were wiped out by whatever theory it is you accept. Then lets say that human kind too will only survive for 100 million years by whatever prediction or theory you want to accept, then it would mean that there are 100 million civilizations out in the universe. One problem with the Drake Equation that I can see right of the bat is, are the 100 million civilizations each dispersed on 100 million planets? Or are they all on one planet? Furthermore, what exactly did Drake mean by the word Civilizations? One thing we know is that he meant a being who is technologically advanced. But would we not agree that even with no technology we are still the human race and more importantly a civilization? Just some thoughts.

What’s your take?

a man has desires. A man has a fated death. He will go with what he wants only because he doesnt know what he wants.