Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Three decimal eight four seconds... and ticking



What is darkness? In scientific terms it is the absence of light- just as cold is the absence of heat. In the 4.5 billion years since the inception of this blue lagoon in the vast void of space- the planet we call our home, our dear planet earth- we as a species are only about 20000 years old. Now this only considers the anatomical modernity- to a layman’s term- 200,000 years ago a human who originated in the continent now we call Africa has the same biological anatomy as any other human we have in our planet today. Leaving the process of evolution which is still ongoing – vestigial organs to be precise. If we consider the behavioral modernity- display of affection, family structure, social structure, intelligence, that gives us only about 50,000 years as a species.

Now considering the age of our planet- if we do the math you will be stunned to find out that if we plot the age of earth in a 24 hours timeline we as a species cover only 3.84 seconds!! What this proves is that we as a species have a tremendous amount of potential. Just look at what we have accomplished. We have already set foot outside of our planet. The man made Voyager is already reached the far end of our Solar system. We have sent rovers on Mars, set foot on the moon. We have mastered mobility in all three dimensions.

We have a distinguished social structure. We have a family structure. We have governments, economy, and dedicated medium for transfer of knowledge and information. We have an organized society which functions as small and dedicated groups of people who work together and stay together in a way that is mutually beneficial to all. I can’t even begin to gasp the magnitude of accomplishments we have had already. Just imagine the promise we have in our species- all of this in just 3.84 seconds!!

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