(A tribute to and taken inspiration from Christopher Hitchens)
Ali Qasim
We are born into a losing struggle. We are fighting a war that has already been lost. It is the war against nature and the war against time. Nature played a joke on us with our creation or perhaps it is not even aware of our existence. It is just indifferent. We are merely dust particles in the cosmic background. Our existence or non-existence does not make any difference to this endless universe. We, the Homo sapiens, evolved and appeared on earth around two hundred thousand years ago and are sure to go extinct in the near or far future like all the other ninety-nine percent of the species that have evolved and died out eventually. We were born in tough times on this planet. Our great-great-ancestors must have felt strange and amazed to find themselves in a place that seemed to be hostile albeit a bit friendly for life at the same time.
The burden of life itself was difficult to carry in primitive times so we had to take some measures in order to ensure survival in this hostile world. We realized that we are the part of nature that is fully aware of its existence with a consciousness level of extremely high profundity. This high level of awareness and cognizance had to come up with some consequences. The formation and development of religions, art, economics, science, logic, and philosophy are the expressions of those consequences. These are all man-made enterprises that attempt to explain and provide meaning to our existence and the natural world. We made up all this stuff to kill existential boredom. It was known all along the time that our presence at this place is momentary and death is approaching and nothing can be done to overcome it. The conflict between the intense consciousness and severe absurdity of existence deceived our minds into believing that we are some special creation among other creatures. Some argue that religion is the outcome of unresolved contradictions in the material world. We want longevity of life and desire to live forever so the concept of life after death attempts to make us immortal. Considering our biological, neurological, and physiological needs, the development of the aforementioned ideologies seems to be a natural product of consciousness but it should not be forgotten that these are all human efforts to search for the truth. The truth is all relative and can be argued and re-argued upon. All of us consider ourselves a chosen and significant being wherein all of us are equally insignificant. Until now, we have survived every possible way of extinction but non-existence is bound to be our fate. Our story as a biological species is full of frailties and strength; where we have faced diseases, natural disasters, pandemics, climatic hardships, floods, famines, and even wrath through each other's hands resulting in the deaths of millions of people throughout the centuries and yet survived through all that. But we will soon be in oblivion as nothingness is approaching us. Even if human beings survive biological extinction in the coming millions of years, there is no escape from surviving extinction at the hands of the solar system. The sun will eventually die down and turn into a red giant before converting into a white dwarf in approximately five billion years. It will herald the end of all life on earth and ultimately the demise of all the planets of the solar system.
No help is coming for us from anywhere; the future is bleak and the end is soon. But, after accepting the reality and knowing the actual situation, it is human solidarity and the ability to comprehend the hard facts that can provide some consolation and prowess to lead a satisfying life that is based on goodwill and cooperation among the human race. When life itself is meaningless, the meaning should be carved out from it by us. We should certainly create meaning if there exists none inherently as it is necessary for our survival. Although the situation is hopeless, nevertheless, turn the tables and transform this feeling of desperation into tranquillity. Face it head-on with courage. Our spirits should be high while facing pointlessness because the best revenge that can be appropriated from life that has been forced upon is to live it fully and with zeal.
