We are made of star stuff

Let’s quit taking sides. Let’s hold everyone accountable for their actions. Is Rana Sanaullah responsible for police brutality and abuse of power during crackdown on PTI supporters throughout the country? Is Imran Khan responsible for evading his parliamentary obligations and insisting on mass protests and rallies creating chaos and anarchy?

Let’s look beyond the world of politics where double-dealing charlatans lecture us on morality and fortitude every morning while making secret deals behind closed doors in the dead of the night.

“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of star stuff.” (Carl Sagan)

We have been living on this planet called Earth for 3.5 billion years. Back then, we were microbes that originated in a deep-sea hydrothermal vent. Today, we are part of the animal kingdom. We are the primates. Accounting for the genes we share, the genetic difference between us and the chimpanzees is only 1.2%, between us and the gorillas only 1.6%, and between us and the orangutans only 3.1%. (Smithsonian Institution). As primates, we are exceedingly intelligent. We know how to love and share. We know how to steal and fight.

According to Freud’s “pleasure principle”, we like to seek pleasure and avoid pain. We like to maximize our living experience with the aid of advances in technology: smart phones, smart clothes, smart houses, smart cities. We are ready to internalize “smart” medical implants, armed with advanced sensor technology, not only to combat chronic conditions but to enhance function. This includes brain chips and neural implants.

Human genetic enhancement carries the promise of designer babies carefully selected from a virtual catalog. You want your baby to have sapphire blue eyes or honey brown? Ash blonde hair or Auburn black? A perfectly chiseled jawline? Piece of cake. We are on our way to becoming trans-humans.

We’re a Type 1 Civilization, according to the Kardashev scale. We harness our planet’s energy for survival. But here is the problem: “Humanity will not survive another 1,000 years on Earth unless the human race finds another planet to live on.” (Stephen Hawking)

In 1,000 years, we’ll have no choice but to become a Type 2 Civilization — an interplanetary civilization. Our lives will no longer be the same. Market dynamics will change. Will China and USA still be the economic powerhouses? If they still exist, that is. The simple answer is: we don’t know. But one thing is for sure: we will have molecular factories infinitely better than the Star Trek’s Replicator. These factories will manufacture products with molecular precision at the blink of an eye. The sunglasses, the bracelet, the floatation bed, the entertainment center, the cheeseburger made with beef that does not come from cows.

Using our mind, not fingers, we will be able to turn the light on and search the web. And to embrace immortality, we will upload our mind to a computer and survive our own death.

In, 100,000 years, we’ll be a Type 3 Civilization. A galactic civilization. In this type of advanced civilization, our home is the entire galaxy — the Milky Way — a magnificent spiral structure studded with more than 100 billion stars, and perhaps as many planets. The tiny solar system where we used to live a long time ago lies on a small arm called the Orion Arm that is located way over there — 27,000 light years from the Galactic Center.

Do we still shop at a mall on a lazy weekend? Do we still enjoy a steaming cup of latte or cappuccino? Do we visit virtual museums and admire Picasso and da Vinci? Do we still listen to Bach or the Beetles or Nusrat Fateh Ali?

Yes, it’s 100,000 years into the future. Imagine you’re inside your small and cosy home on an Earth-like planet that revolves around Kepler 22-B, a star 600 lightyears away from the solar system. You’ve just returned from an interstellar expedition. Your 40-foot long autonomous space vehicle is parked outside on a thick blanket of snow. You’re tired from the long trip. And you’re starving. Your partner enters the room. He welcomes you with an endearing smile and tells you he’s cooked your favorite meal.

But what is it? you wonder. Is it mutton biryani or beef paya?

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2022.

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