Do we really want to be ‘COMPLETELY PERFECT’???
To
initiate, it's necessary to give a picture of what I imply when I use the word
'perfect'. This word, in its very sense brings into picture something
idealistic, something highly favourable and stable, practically unattainable,
something beyond which nothing is there. It describes a system which cannot be
improved further, and the system is said to have achieved perfection. In
reality, though, we use the word mostly as an approximation to the concept of
perfectness.
You must
have heard them say- "Stop chasing perfectionism, and start living a
happier life." I think in the context of life, it's true to a great
extent. How much can you do to be 'perfect'?
In my
opinion, the domain of perfection always keeps growing and redefining itself,
its boundaries pushing further as the human race advances. Maybe what used to
be perfect in the past is real today, and what's perfect today may not be so
tomorrow. Our perception of perfection keeps changing, pushing the limits
higher as we go up. So realistically speaking, at any given time, irrespective
of how much we develop, we always visualise perfection to be yet farther.
That's why it's called unattainable. In this article, we will see what happens
if any such state of complete perfection exists and whether we would want to
step into that perfect universe.
Well, you
must have heard the familiar saying- everything always tries to attain a state
of stability.Scientists over the years have echoed the same principle. Perhaps the
two major poles on which everything rests are the two S's- symmetry and
stability. With a little insight into the matter, you would say that the only
major pole is stability, because symmetry is just a way or an ‘orientation of being’
required in order to manifest stability. The most beautiful example of symmetry
[I would say it is the best three- dimensional object form I have ever seen] is
the perfect sphere (an ideal case, of
course),
it just closes onto itself, from every side. Anyone who has a good power of
imagination can appreciate the beauty of the sphere, the perfect symmetry. And
yet we have scores of others ymmetrical objects all around us. Therefore, you
must think that symmetry is a mechanism of trying to achieve stability. And
that symmetry is necessary for something to be stable. But is this symmetry the
type of symmetry that a layman understands? The symmetry of physical appearance
about any assumed point or line or plane of symmetry? Or is it something which
is not so easily visible to human eyes but can be perceived by our brain?
A
ponderous child may ask you- You say symmetry is required for stability. Then
how is it that thecuboidal walls that we build for our houses fall easy prey to
earthquakes but the centuries old roughill-prepared looking walls of old forts
stand still? How? To quench his thirst of curiosity, you say- Noson, it is not
just physical symmetry that our eyes can see. The walls of forts may look likehaphazardly
placed stones (with most not even requiring cement or plaster), but their
builders knewwhat they were building when they built them. They relied on the
symmetry- The symmetry offorces – a state better determined in the scientific
world by a word –Physical Equilibrium. Equilibrium- a word used to refer to the state of
having attained complete stability. But is it complete?
I have
always been tormented by the (ideal) concept of a state of absolute stability-
a condition that will remain flawless and constant under every circumstance.
Mostly people attach another English word with this state- perfect. Most
probably because they think that everything that attains complete stability is
perfect. Science describes this as ideal- a state which can never be realized
practically. But is it what everybody wants- a state of complete stability?
Try to
realize what will happen if there is complete stability- I know you will never
be able to imagine it minutely and scientifically as it is out of the scope of
our brains. But you can get very close to it regarding our day-to-day life. In
our daily life spheres, I don’t want you to confuse stability (dynamic
equilibrium) with complete inactivity (static equilibrium, as in mechanics).
This means I don’t want you to imagine the world as if we have turned into
stone carved structures, OK? So now, what do you see? You have got a very very
steady life, a steady job, almost everything around you is as steady as you
could never imagine…. But you must notice that life is mundane. You don’t catch
up a disease because the world has turned ‘perfect’. Each day of yours does not
have a new story now because you are not finding problems in anything. People
don’t have energy concerns because there is endless energy (never try to
realize this term scientifically) for everyone. We have machines for everything and we
are capable of solving all our problems and there is not a single reason to
worry about.
There is no accident.(Life is beautiful because of accidents, try to imagine a
life sans accidents.)There is no breaking news on the news channels because
there is no fire accident, no crimes, no matters…as all matters have been
solved wisely and there is nothing which is to be done in the future. We are at
the zenith. So, what’s next?
Think
over it. When nothing more remains to be done, then what would you do? Your
existence does
not make this world a better place to live, simply because it can’t be better.
It’s the same whether
you are here or not. Does this state of full stability still seem PERFECT to
you? In my opinion,
the answer is no. this is according to a philosophical approach based on daily
life. It might serve
the purpose to make you understand what I am trying to say but only
superficially.
Now let’s take a bit scientific approach to the same. Consider our
universe. We all know it can never be judged as stable if we consider it relative to
the life spans of stars. [Yes, if we consider it relative to our life spans,
then obviously it is more stable than anything else, as we never see the
numerous changes
that the universe undergoes over vast periods of time.] The question is- Is the
universe moving
towards being stable? No one knows the answer. May be yes, may be not. But if
we study the
relative movements of galaxies and super-clusters of stars, they are nowhere
near trying to be stable.
Galaxies ripping past each other, storms affecting the surfaces of planets over
years and decimating
vast stretches, stars undergoing birth and subsequently burning out, black
holes gobbling up huge celestial bodies pulling them inside at monstrous speeds
and millions of collisions all over suggest a more live and hugely unstable
picture of the universe. So where are we heading?
Astrophysicists
are still trying to find answers. A pioneer in this stream and one of the
greatest minds of our century, Mr. Stephen Hawking has pointed out, that our
universe has come into origin because of imperfections. He argues that if everything had been PERFECT
at the time of creation, the moment which defines the birth of space and time
itself, then we would not be here. The universe would have been an entirely
different picture today, and may be no one would have been here to see it. If
Hawking is correct, at the Big Bang, the universe was the size of an atom.
Hawking has been trying to explain enormous density and immense gravity at this
level. Thermal radiation left over since the Big Bang is still cutting through
space. And they have been known to exist since the 1960s and have been studied
too. Their patterns are found to be totally non-uniform.
So as
minute particles are always found to be random, in case of universe also, the
differences had
started
since the start of everything. The minute universe had been erratic and fuzzy,
like atoms. The radiations
and energy released at the Big Bang were never uniform. This explains the no-
symmetry state
of the observable universe. Everything is still moving in its own way. Our sun
will also become a black hole someday. It’s predicted Milky Way will be ripped
apart by sister galaxy Andromeda someday. A new face of universe might show up, with
black holes probably playing a vital role in all this. New kinds of life forms may emerge, which we
might never be able to imagine. Maybe earth won’t be there to witness all this. But one thing
is certain; the universe is never trying to tend to be stable. It’s
believed that one day quantum mechanics might be able to unravel the mystery
and explain
the state of universe at the beginning when it had been of a size small enough
to fall in the domain
of this ‘theory of the very small’ and we might get to know how we came into
being.
But
when people say that even God is not perfect, and when evidence suggests that
we ourselves and
this whole universe have been born out of imperfections, the question still
lingers on in my mind...
IS OUR
GOAL STILL TRYING TO BE ‘THE PERFECT’?
THINK . . . but don’t think perfectly... : )
