‘Daddy! Why are you burying Bruno in the garden?’ asked the little four year old. His sister of seven answered with superior knowledge “Because your pup is dead, stupid!” Smiling into the little one’s eyes, his father replied ‘He has gone visiting God!’ Back at the dining table, the little one continued ‘Mom, you said God is everywhere. Then why did Bruno have to go somewhere to visit him?’ Exchanging a brief look with her husband, the mother replied ‘Like you take a vacation from school to be home all the time, Bruno has taken a vacation to be with God all the time’. But the young mind was persistent ‘But why is he ‘dead’? What does that mean?’
Science smiled. It was too soon for the little boy to realise that his parents whom he adored just didn’t have all the answers. ‘You don’t either’ whispered a voice. Science turned to find God smiling and observing him. The Lord once again said ‘You don’t have all the answers either, my child!’. Not enjoying the feeling of ignorance, Science replied,
Science: Well, I do have most answers…
God: Yes! But not all! How would you explain death to a four year old?
Science: (Hesitantly) Death has been constantly refined even for an adult mind. Simply put it is the termination of biological functions of a living organism. But as all biological functions don’t stop simultaneously, death of the whole organism is a slow process. A patient with a working heart and lung but whose brain is devoid of electrical activity is legally considered dead. On the other hand, without a functioning heart or lung, life can sometimes be sustained using life support systems. Conditions that were once considered indicative of death, have now been reversed. Cells continue to live for a certain duration helping organs to be transplanted from the dead to aid the living. Death is now seen more as a process than as an event.
God: (Incredulously) Would that be your answer to a four year old?
Science: Of course not Father! I was just speaking aloud. Death is the cessation of life. So the definition of life simultaneously defines death.
God: Ok! So how would you define life?
Science: Life is the condition that distinguishes active organisms from inorganic matter. All living things undergo metabolism, maintain homeostasis, can grow, reproduce and respond to stimuli. When all this stops, the living entity is considered dead.
God: Again I ask, is that your answer to a four year old?
Science: No Father! But I wonder, how do you actually define life or death even to an intelligent adult? Life is after all a process and not a pure substance.
God: Just as you build fantastic theories on certain basic assumptions, life is defined on the foundations of faith.
Science: And what might those assumptions be?
God: That I give life on the faith that you will live and remove it when you no longer know how! (Laughing at Science’s expression) Ok! Let us deal with it in your way. Tell me about your children’s search for the Theory of Everything.
Science: The unified theory or the Theory of Everything has been long sought by my children to explain all known phenomena about the nature and behaviour of all matter and energy in existence. A force is defined as a push or pull that changes an object’s state of motion or causes the object to deform. A field refers to an area under the influence of some force, such as gravity or electricity, for example.
God: And what are these fields you talk about?
Science: Progress in Quantum physics brought to light that all phenomena in nature can be understood in terms of different underlying quantum fields. Dynamic interactions in nature are described in terms of four separate fundamental force fields – electromagnetic force, weak force, strong force and gravity. A unified field theory would reconcile seemingly incompatible aspects of the various field theories to create a single comprehensive set of equations to unlock all the secrets of nature.
God: Tell me about these fundamental forces, my child.
Science: The familiar force of gravity pulls man down into his seat, toward the Earth’s centre. He feels it as his weight.
God: Hmmm… Then, why does’t he fall through the seat?
Science: Well, another force, electromagnetism, holds the atoms of the seat together, preventing man’s atoms from intruding on those of his seat. When considering massive objects (Earth, stars, galaxies), gravity appears to be the most powerful force. However, when you apply gravity to the atomic level, it has little effect because the masses of subatomic particles are so small. So the electromagnetic field manages to hold the atoms of the chair together and prevents the atoms of man falling all the way down in response to gravity. When scientists worked out the structure of the atom in the early 20th century, they learned that subatomic particles exerted electromagnetic forces on each other. For example, positively charged protons could hold negatively charged electrons in orbit around the nucleus. Furthermore, electrons of one atom attracted protons of neighbouring atoms to form a residual electromagnetic force, which prevents man from falling through his chair.
God: Ok! Gravity and Electromagnetism! What are the other two?
Science: The remaining two forces work at the atomic level, which humanity never feels, despite being made of atoms. The nucleus of any atom is made of positively charged protons and neutral neutrons. According to Electromagnetism the protons should repel each other and the nucleus should fly apart. We also know that gravity doesn’t play a role on a subatomic scale. So some other force must exist within the nucleus that is stronger than gravity and electromagnetism, holding the protons together. In addition, since we don’t perceive this force every day as we do with gravity and electromagnetism, it must operate over very short distances, say, on the scale of the atom.This force holding the nucleus together is called the strong force, alternately called the strong nuclear force or strong nuclear interaction. The weak force is responsible for radioactive decay, specifically, beta decay where a neutron within the nucleus changes into a proton and an electron, which is ejected from the nucleus. Without these fundamental forces, all the matter in the universe would fall apart and float away.
God: So what are you trying to ‘unify’?
Science: In the 19th century Maxwell’s theory of electromagnetism showed that electric and magnetic forces are aspects of a single interaction – the electromagnetic interaction. Then in 1967 my scientists discovered that the electromagnetic and weak forces are essentially two aspects of the same force. This unified force is called electroweak force. Soon many Grand Unified Theories (GUT) emerged in an attempt to combine strong and electroweak force. The final step is to include gravity to this and create a Theory of Everything.
God: Very well, my child! Now, what do you think would happen if I prise Earth out of the sky this very instant?
Science: (after a brief pause) If you were to do that, an un-manifest earth field with a blueprint of gravity will still remain in empty space.
God: Which implies that the gravitational forces of the rest of the Universe have already conspired to have Earth in that very spot just the way she now is – right?
Science: That is how it seems. These un-manifest fields pervade all space and time and are called quantum fields.
God: If they pervade all of space and time how does it distinguish to become unique matter?
Science: Lord! Humanity knows that every snowflake that drops out of the sky is different and unique. Yet one of the most mysterious aspects of quantum physics is that elementary particles, such as the electrons, are absolutely identical everywhere in the universe. Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek sums it up as “In quantum field theory, the primary elements of reality are not individual particles, but underlying fields. Thus, for example, all electrons are but excitations of an underlying field, naturally called the electron field, which fills all space and time”.
God: And how does this un-manifest field actually manifest?
Science: A quantum field constantly borrows energy from space, creating pairs of virtual particles (matter and antimatter) most of which have a very very short lifespan. This energy debt to space must be repaid and the larger the debt, the shorter the time to pay back. But as soon as there is sufficient energy surplus made available by any source, stable particles are able to emerge from the quantum field and have a ‘real’ experience in the universe. Without energy there are only virtual particles.
God: There you have your answer, my child. The un-manifest field is the unrealised desires of the whole universe. The desire borrows energy from eternity to realise them. When sufficient number of people desire the same effect, the energy surplus is made available to make the virtual desire a real one. The minute it becomes real, the electromagnetic field created by that desire manifests as life creating in the process several energy exchanges. Larger the debt, shorter the time to pay back! So energy must be conserved! Emotions act like the strong force binding manifest life to a personal goal. Completed desires decay thanks to the weak force.
Science: Father! Can you please repeat that?
God: Life on the large scale has a blue print conspired by every other atom in the universe – gravity. Ask every man to be thankful to every atom that is not a part of him, for it is they who have permitted him to be who he is. Even if one atom outside him changed, he will not be the same! However, even if a blue print does exist, personal interactions are what distinguish every individual. Without these personal interactions, he could just fall through the chair – electromagnetism. Every individual identity is a bio magnetic field. Also make man understand if gravity symbolises determinism by way of un-manifest fields, electromagnetism provides free-will to life! What holds every nucleus together and allows them to decay – the strong and weak forces – toss him between balance and imbalance. He needs to achieve physical balance, mental serenity, emotional equanimity and intellectual integrity to conserve enough energy and repay the debt to eternity.
Science: So what really is life and death?
God: Life and death is about understanding the paradox – living you are unique, you are meant to be. But dying is nothing personal!
Science: (after a pause) What do I say to the four year old?
God: His parents were right. Bruno is visiting me!
Written by Gita Krishna Raj | Published in infinithoughts in November 2010
When Science met God… | Segment Three: The making of me… | Chapter Eight: The Bio-magnetic identity
