Climate Change

This planet is an extremely complex and dynamic system of uncountable interacting elements.

There is a game called as "Life" which is most commonly implemented in C language. It basically creates a 2 dimensional array and "lights" up cells according to some few simple basic rules. However once the code is run, after some time extraordinarily complex patterns are seen and new patterns emerge. As if the code is living, the lit up cells are termed to be alive, hence the name Life.

Its the same with Earth, except that this planet is an infinite dimensional array, and a large number of incredibly complex rules govern interactions between the variables which light up the cells.

One feature of the game was that when the initial pattern changed the subsequent patterns changed drastically. Also the initial pattern decided whether the lit up cells will spread apart, dilute in concentration and die, or they will form other patterns which will be sustained.

Life appeared/arrived/started on this planet 3.2 billion years ago. Then around 2.4 billions years back photosynthesis appeared. And the sheer number of the cyanobacteria was enough to change the composition of the whole damn atmophere of this planet. The air turned poisonous with a new oxidising agent. Level of CO2 fell drastically, temperatures dropped. Climate Changed.

Present day Earth, same process is happening, inhabitants of the biosphere are playing with patterns and the outcome is bound to change the state of this planet and problem is we don't know where these changed pattern will lead to.

But my stand, as it has always been, on climate change is as follows: Cyanobacteria utilized the nutrients available to them to the fullest, in the process excreting Oxygen, which was at that time an extremely poisonous gas to other life forms, which were predominantly Anaerobes. This phenomena pushed anaerobes, which ruled the earth into such places such as seafloor, intestines and bottom of marshes. Today we are also utilizing the resources available to us to the fullest, and in the process we are excreting poisonous waste which is bound to affect the abiosphere and other life forms. However if cyanobacteria didn't stop why should we. This planet has always adjusted to whatever perturbations it encountered, that's how the system works, by simply following the rules. If the changed patterns cause some populations (maybe/hopefully Humans) to die off, well thats how this game of Life works. The rules just cant be changed.

P.s. This is my post as a contribution for the Blog Action Day cause of this year Climate Change. Cant say it furthers the cause, but i registered and so i blogged!! :)

Into the Wild

Its that time of the year again, exam time. Semester 2 is drawing to a close and we have 2 holidays in between the exams... next up is SBMM, 4 credits... perhaps thats why i watched a movie today, titled - Into the Wild.

Its about a guy who gives up civilization and retires into the wild at the age of 23.

Does it make any sense to simply give up civilization? To just leave the life you are living and go...?

Well the movie definitely makes sense to me. And i recommend this movie to all, and if u like it, please tell me. This might sound odd but thats' the way it is. Cause i think that maybe everyone might not like this movie.

Here's the story.
The movie starts with Christopher McCandeless starting his journey into the Alaskan wilderness at the start of winter. Definitely not the best of the time to move in. He finds a bus abandoned in the middle of nowhere and decides to make it his home, he spends the rest of his short life in that "magic" bus. The movie then flashbacks to his graduation day. His proud parents offer him a new car in place of his perfectly good Datson, he is anyways pissed off the material things in life. He donates his life savings to charity, burns the change, cuts all his identity cards, destroys his social security card and drives to the Arizona desert. Here he abandons his car, burns whatever money he had and walks away, from his old life, from the people he knew, from civilization and perhaps from hypocrisy, deceit, lies, society.
He assumes the new name of Alexander Supertramp. Along the way he meets up new people, 2 "Rubber Tramps", works for a farmer as an combine, elevator operator, spends a few days with an old man living alone. His way leads north, to Alaska and he rows kayaks, walks the plains and freeloads on freight trains and takes rides. No money. He is a voracious reader, and reads Tolstoy etc., Dr Zhivago is one of his favourites.

He always hated the sick, hypocritic codes of the society. He lived his life on the lines of his own codes, he measured other people by them, most failed. But the one person he trusts and respects is his Sister, who narrates the movie. He discovers that his mom is not the legally wedded wife of his father. This makes him and his sister bastard children.

But he is not running away from lies and deceit. He is leaving them behind.

He writes and quotes: "Mans' spirit is made by the experiences he has", "It should not be denied that being footloose has always exhilarated us. It is associated in our minds with escape", "The simple beauty is just too good to pass up", "A man can only truly become one with himself when he is all alone with nature, with just his hands and his head" . Once he kills a moose for food but is unable to preserve the meat. He labels this event as the "biggest tragedy of my life". In the end he wants to return back to civilization, to his defunct family, but is trapped in the wild because of the weather. He runs out of food and has to eat edible plants, he by mistake eats a poisonous plant which paralyzes his digestive system. He dies of starvation. "everything must be called by its true name", he dies not Alex but Chris. "Happiness is real only if shared".

Things are not what they seem. Sometimes i feel totally lonely when i am with my friends and the hostel is crawling with a 100 guys. You can be totally lonely when in a crowd. Being alone does not mean being lonely. Its like you are best hidden when out in the open. Today i was all alone in my room and the hostel was almost deserted, and i was looking into the woods behind my room and the shadow of the tree was shimmering on the ground like light shimmers on water. It felt really good just listening. Once i was at 12500 feet atop on Gulmarg, all alone with not a souls in sight, and boy could i see far!! Loneliness can strike anytime, it is a weird thing.

A man who has to hide cannot leave the society. He hides but in the society. Only that man leaves who has nothing to hide and nothing to hide from. Seems like Alex was that kinda man.

Sometimes difficult questions need to be asked, and moving "into the wild" seems to be the only answer.