Why do we NEED a catastrophe?

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) – an atomic Physics laboratory – has been in news recently for their new far-reaching experiment of deciphering the basic fabric of our universe by smashing otherwise innocuous protons together at very high speeds.

However, the news has been taken very differently in different parts of the world. In Andhra Pradesh, a girl committed suicide on September 11 fearing that the world will end as a result of the ongoing experiment in Geneva.

Scientists suggest that there is a miniscule possibility of something like that happening. The possibility would might only be 1%, but let us for a moment consider, what if the same possibility would have been a large number, say 70%. Then there would certainly be a palpable change in people’s behaviour; their perception about themselves and others.

For instance, not having more than a few years to live, and with chances of pardon remote, a significant number of death row inmates become more at peace within and the world. Some turn to philosophy or religion but very few attempt suicide or take on a ‘how-does-it-matter-any-more’ attitude.

But consider if scientists told us there was a 100% certain chance of total destruction. Very rarely do people walking to their deaths rant and rave. Victims of war, religious persecution or political hangings almost always believe there is a higher ideal to die for.

Funnily enough, 100% chance of death is exactly what we face in life! Yet what is it that stops us from gaining that same insight?

The day we realise that we are not going to live forever will liberate us from a life wasted in anticipating a death we do not like to believe in.