Creation or annihilation?

Science looked around. Why wasn’t the Lord yet here? His father never kept him waiting. Perplexed he searched and felt the divine presence behind him. Science turned to find God sitting relaxed on his chair. Science walked up to him and said ‘O Father! I didn’t know you were here!’ ‘What is your question my child?’ asked the Lord. But the voice came from behind Science! Perplexed Science turned to find the Lord once again seated ‘behind’ him. Checking all around Science was sure there weren’t two of them. Yet how had the Lord changed from the front side to behind? God gently smiled and held out his hand for Science. He made him sit by his side and once again asked ‘what is your question my child?’

Science: (Shaking himself out of his reverie) ‘Lord! As directed by you I have exposed to mankind your principle of a relative world. Albert Einstein, my chosen child calls it the theory of relativity. Using enormous mathematics and astoundingly complex formulae, he has formulated this theory which is pretty difficult for man to understand.

God: Oh! Why did you make it so complex? The idea is to make man understand.

Science: Well Lord! Actually the idea is pretty simple. But when ‘proof’ has to be provided it runs to several pages of mathematics that makes it very complicated.

God: Can’t you find a way to explain it in simple terms?

Science: The simplest I can say Lord is that neither time nor space is fixed or constant. Now, we always identify an ‘event’ with a specific time and location – like ‘4 pm on Tuesday at the Taj Mahal’. This was once believed to be a ‘fixed’ event because its geographies and time has been determined. Now man has discovered that space is not static. The most common example used to describe that space is not absolute is to say that ‘the platform arrived at the train’ is as true as saying ‘the train arrived at the platform’, for the earth and every place within this universe is never static.

God: Make it simpler Science!

Science: Ok! Lord if a man plays ball inside a moving train, the distance travelled by the ball may be from one end of the compartment to the other. But as the train itself has moved, say a few meters, the ball has actually moved a greater distance than perceived. That is how man realised that space is not static but relative to the point of reference.

God: Good! This is better! Perhaps now he appreciates that for someone standing on the North Pole every direction is South! Now how about time?

Science: Time varies with reference to the position of the observer – the sun always rises at different times for people in different parts of the world. For example, the light man sees this very minute actually left the sun eight minutes ago. So if you suddenly decided to make the sun dark, man will know about it only after eight minutes.

God: So what insight did man get out of understanding that both time and space are relative?

Science: Lord! He has realised that the rate at which time passes depends on his speed relative to others. Further, he has discovered that the speed of light is constant. This relationship between space and time in the form of constant speed of light confirmed that indeed space and time are not independent entities but one space-time continuum.

Happy with his explanation, Science looked up to find God missing. Before he could react God’s gentle laughter came from behind him.

God: So have you helped man understand that everything is a mere perspective? Depending on which direction he is looking, I am either in front of him or behind. After all any two points in space are in a straight line!!

Science: (Slowly turning to face the Lord with a smile) Yes Lord! I am trying to make human beings understand that everything they perceive remains their perception and not ‘reality’. But what should I answer Lord when they ask me what is reality?

God: Hmmm… We shall come to that in a while… What other important insight does this theory of relativity contain?

Science: Ah Yes Lord! There is one other beautiful realisation that is sure to change the outlook of mankind. You see after an enormous amount of calculation, Einstein has arrived at the formula E=mc2 where E is energy, m is the mass and c2 the speed of light. That is, he has shown that energy and matter can be equated. Now this formula, though very difficult to comprehend in scientific terms, shows to mankind that energy and matter are interchangeable and so different forms of the same Noumenon. 

God: That is really good! You have done me proud my child Science. Now I no longer need worry about the sectarian divide among human kind. If people can understand that matter and energy are indeed ‘equal’ though not ‘similar’, it should be easy for them to see that human and human are most definitely equal though never likely to be similar.

Science: (interrupting the Lord’s apparent joy with a sad frown) It is too soon to rejoice my Lord! Not everybody still understands this theory nor realises the truth hidden in its depth. They don’t seem to understand the meaning of the word ‘equal’ for they think we mean ‘similar’ every time. As no two individuals are similar, they clamour to isolate and separate themselves.  They don’t yet appreciate the fact they are equal and yet not similar. How do I process this further my Lord?

God: I understand what you mean child. Sectarian thinking has also contributed to this lack of sensitivity. So many religious sects, I find it hard to remember all of them! But don’t worry Science my child. From your perspective you worry that not all understand your revelations. But from where they once were, they have indeed come a long way.

Science: But what is the direct insight man needs to take from this revelation of a relative world Lord? How best will he be able to understand and apply this in his life?

God: By equating energy and mass, mankind has learnt how to generate atomic energy – he can get a lot of energy from a tiny bit of mass as the atom bomb unleashed at Hiroshima proved – destroying matter to unleash energy. But has he understood that he could also use the same formula to create matter?

Science: Of course Lord. What Einstein originally wrote was E/ c2 = m that implies that from energy ‘matter’ can be created which is equivalent to destroying matter to make energy.

God: There is the answer to your question my child! The reality man wishes to freeze upon depends on his perspective of existence – the balance with which he sees life. Does man wish to destroy matter – a single infinitesimal atom, to create energy beyond his needs and control. Or does he wish to perceive existence as matter created by my divine energy? Creation or annihilation? My child, the equation remains the same, the choice remains mankind’s!

Written by Gita Krishna Raj  |  Published in infinithoughts in December 2008

When Science met God… |  Segment One: A relative World  |  Chapter Two: Creation or Annihilation?

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