THE HISTORY OF KNOWLEDGE
A Pointer to World’s End
IT is generally regarded that the early phase of philosophy began in ancient Greece. Greek philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato (4th century BC) believed that matter was eternal, that is, matter has always existed and will remain so forever. Later, many great minds were born who achieved high renown in the field of philosophy.
However, all of them regarded matter to be eternal in one form or
another. But by the time scientific progress reached the first half of the
20th century this material concept of matter lost favour. New scientific
developments could best be described in the words of the English
physicist and astronomer, Sir James Jeans (1877-1946) as, “the stream
of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the universe
begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine.”
(The Mysterious Universe)
Under the material interpretation, the doctrine was developed that held there was no need to believe in the existence of an all-powerful creator like that of God. The existence of God that was hitherto accepted as an intellectual or theoretical need was redundant. This need was now being fulfilled by the eternity of matter itself. This implied that matter had created itself and the existence of everything else was the result of the physical and chemical activities of matter.
In the first quarter of the twentieth century, the Big Bang theory was formulated and its development over the following years has made it the currently accepted model of how the universe began. According to this theory, the universe as we know it today began from an extremely dense, small and hot point of energy some 13.8 billion years ago.
Matter, space and time all began when that point―a primeval superatom―suddenly expanded violently and exponentially in an event known as the Big Bang inflating to the cosmos that we know today. The Big Bang put an end to the ancient material interpretation of the universe. Now, from a purely academic or scientific point of view, it became possible to believe that there is a Creator of this universe and it is He who is controlling it and it is He who is responsible for its exceptionally purposeful functioning.
Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) is regarded as the founder of modern science. In the years after Newton, there have been many discoveries in science that have both vindicated and rejected his work. One of these is the second law of thermodynamics also known as the law of entropy.
Entropy is a measure of disorder in the universe and according to the law of entropy, the net entropy of any system will always increase with time. According to this law, it is not possible that the universe could have existed without a beginning and that the universe is not endless but is heading towards a collapse. The universe had a beginning in the Big Bang and it has a limited age, after the completion of which it will come to an end.
The law of entropy proves that there is a continuous natural flow of heat from warmer to colder bodies, and that this flow cannot be reversed without the addition of a power source. Energy is the ability to do work and entropy is a measure of energy that is unavailable to do work. As entropy in the universe continues to increase, heat will continue to spread until the system has reached maximum equilibrium. The universe is headed for a time when the temperature will be universally uniform and there will be no more useful energy. This will be the heat death of the universe. There will be no more physical and chemical processes and life itself will cease to exist.Under the material interpretation of the universe, the doctrine was developed that held there was no need to believe in the existence of an allpowerful creator like that of God.
For the last several thousand years, philosophers, thinkers and scientists have dreamed of bringing into existence a technologically advanced heavenly civilization. But, by the beginning of the 21st century the situation had changed radically, and this dream was shattered. According to the latest developments in the world, there is no further possibility of a realization of this dream.
Over thousands of years man had dreamed of building a better life for himself in this world. It is this human desire which resulted in the civilization we now live in. The journey of civilization began with the discovery of the wheel. After a long process, civilization made rapid progress following the industrial revolution and man was able to travel with great speed over land and sea and then out into space.
Alvin Toffler published his book Future Shock in 1970. In this book the writer argues that human civilization was undergoing an enormous structural revolution going from an industrial society to a superindustrial society. This would be the final stage of man’s civilizational journey where all of man’s material dreams would be fulfilled. Here, man would find all the material comforts he desired. However, very soon the phenomenon of global warning emerged and this dream of a near perfect civilization came to an end.
All the material progress of civilization came about through industrial and technological developments following scientific discoveries. This progress was possible through mechanization. Earlier man’s life was based on the produce of nature. The industry of nature bestowed man with its products without creating any problems. But the human technological industry required a continuous supply of fuel to keep its machines turning resulting in the new problem of carbon emission. In the beginning this problem did not appear to be serious, however, with the advent of the 21st century it has assumed extremely serious proportions.
The industry of nature bestowed man with its products without creating any problems. But the human technological industry required a continuous supply of fuel to keep its machines turning resulting in the new problem of carbon emission.
In ancient times, man would travel on horses and camels provided by nature. These horses and camels did not create any issues for man. They were the products of the pollution-free industry of nature. In contrast, the cars and aeroplanes of modern times have been manufactured in the factories of human civilization. These factories unavoidably generate atmospheric pollution as a by-product. This continuing pollution has now increased to dangerous levels from where a return to normalcy is not possible. Now, the next stage of history for humankind is only one; that is, moving on from this present world onto the next eternal world.