Human Virus
On one poignantly beautiful autumn day in Syracuse, a group
of us physics graduate students were gathered around a
frugal kitchen table. We had our brilliant professor, Lee
Smolin, talking to us. We held our promising mentors in
very high regard. And we had high hopes for Lee.
The topic of conversation on that day was a bit
philosophical, and we were eagerly absorbing the words of
wisdom emanating from Lee. He was describing to us how the
Earth could be considered a living organism. Using
insightful arguments and precisely modulated glib
articulation (no doubt, forged by years of intellectual
duels in world's best universities), Lee made a compelling
case that the Earth, in fact, satisfied all the conditions
of being an organism.
Lee Smolin, by the way, lived up to our great expectations
in later years, publishing highly acclaimed books and
generally leaving a glorious imprint in the world of modern
physics. He now talks to global audiences through
prestigious programmes such as the BBC Hardtalk, much to
our pride and joy.
The point in Lee's view was not so much whether or the
Earth was literally alive, but that thinking of it as an
organism was a viable intellectual model to represent the
Earth. Such intellectual acrobatics was not uncommon among
us physics students.
In the last few years, Lee has actually taken this mode of
thinking much farther in one of his books, picturing the
universe in the light of evolution. Again, the argument is
not to be taken literally, imagining a bunch of parallel
universes vying for survival. The idea is to let the mode
of thinking carry us forward and guide our thoughts, and
see what conclusions we can draw from the thought exercise.
A similar mode of thinking was introduced in the movie
Matrix. In fact, several profound models were introduced in
that movie, which probably fuelled its wild box-office
success. One misanthropic model that the computer agent
Smith proposes is that human beings are a virus on our
planet.
It is okay for the bad guy in a movie to suggest it, but an
entirely different matter for newspaper columnist to do so.
But bear with me as I combine Lee's notion of the Earth
being an organism and Agent Smith's suggestion of us being
a virus on it. Let's see where it takes us.
The first thing a virus does when it invades an organism is
to flourish using the genetic material of the host body.
The virus does it with little regard for the well-being of
the host. On our part, we humans plunder the raw material
from our host planet with such abandon that the similarity
is hard to miss.
But the similarity doesn't end there. What are the typical
symptoms of a viral infection on the host? One symptom is a
bout of fever. Similarly, due to our activities on our host
planet, we are going through a bout of global warming.
Eerily similar, in my view.
The viral symptoms could extend to sores and blisters as
well. Comparing the cities and other eye sores that we
proudly create to pristine forests and natural landscapes,
it is not hard to imagine that we are indeed inflicting
fetid atrocities to our host Earth. Can't we see the city
sewers and the polluted air as the stinking, oozing ulcers
on its body?
Going one step further, could we also imagine that natural
calamities such as Katrina and the Asian tsunami are the
planet's natural immune systems kicking into high gear?
I know that it is supremely cynical to push this comparison
to these extreme limits. Looking at the innocent faces of
your loved ones, you may feel rightfully angry at this
comparison. How dare I call them an evil virus? Then again,
if a virus could think, would it think of its activities on
a host body as evil?
If that doesn't assuage your sense of indignation, remember
that this virus analogy is a mode of thinking rather than a
literal indictment. Such a mode of thinking is only useful
if it can yield some conclusions. What are the conclusions
from this human-viral comparison?
The end result of a viral infection is always gloomy.
Either the host succumbs or the virus gets beaten by the
host's immune systems. If we are the virus, both these
eventualities are unpalatable. We don't want to kill the
Earth. And we certainly don't want to be exterminated by
the Earth. But those are the only possible outcomes of our
viral-like activity here. It is unlikely that we will get
exterminated; we are far too sophisticated for that. In all
likelihood, we will make our planet uninhabitable. We may,
by then, have our technological means of migrating to other
planetary systems. In other words, if we are lucky, we may
be contagious! This is the inescapable conclusion of this
intellectual exercise.
There is a less likely scenario -- a symbiotic viral
existence in a host body. It is the kind of benign life
style that Al Gore and others recommend for us. But, taking
stock of our activities on the planet, my doomsday view is
that it is too late for a peaceful symbiosis. What do you
think?
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