100 Years are Still 100 Years Back

Humanity: Overconfident, Underpowered, and Doomed (Probably)

We humans can never know the nature of the world. Its mysteries. Its miracles. Its annoying habit of hiding Malaysian airplanes for months on end.

We can never defeat the mysterious nature. We can never truly understand it. And the fact is, we cannot change nature—its work, its fate, or its complete indifference to our feelings.

Everything is predestined and programmed like it should be, they say. Who is "they"? Nobody knows. But they sound very sure of themselves.

For example, a Malaysian airplane has been missing for months now. Months! And tracking it is "difficult." How satisfactorily equipped are we, really? What developed technologies do we have? Satellites? Radar? The entire internet? Apparently not enough. Because in the end, we will have to follow the law of nature. Everything—planes, dreams, our pride—succumbs to Mother Nature. She doesn't care about your flight radar. She never did.

Humans Think We're Moving Ahead

Oh yes. We are so advanced. Our sciences and technologies are conquering the world. Any day now.

After 100 or more years, there would be technology that could build a beautiful house when you press a button. Just one button. Poof. A villa. With a garden. Maybe even a garage.

Everyone would have wings to fly. Not metaphorical wings. Actual, strap-on, carbon-fiber wings. Traffic jams? Gone. Fear of heights? Still there, but now with more screaming.

Everyone would have robots to work. Cook, clean, file taxes, pretend to listen to your problems. People would become so lazy that they would be resentful of switching a button. A button! The very thing that gave them everything. 

ETC. (The "ETC" here carries the weight of all our delusions.)

But Here's the Plot Twist

These 100 years are still 100 years backward.

For example, we cannot create another Earth. We cannot lengthen our life after 100 years or so. We cannot deny the fact that truth is truth. And we certainly cannot deny the almighty God—or Mother Nature, or whoever is currently in charge of cosmic reality.

Nature is so original. So stubbornly, annoyingly original. We humans merely duplicate what was already there. We see a bird, we make a plane. We see a fish, we make a submarine. We see a tree, we make... paper. Then we complain that the paper isn't as strong as the tree.

We try to change that original natural thing, which in turn destroys us. The pure gold is stained and tarnished. By us. With our own greedy, restless, button-pressing hands.

The Real Problem

I think we are making ourselves complicated because we are not able to understand the basic nature of nature. It's simple, really. But we hate simple. Simple doesn't sell. Simple doesn't get likes. Simple doesn't require a 500-page manual with a missing page 47.

One thing we must understand: we cannot go beyond the will of anyone—be it person, nature, or God.

And that, dear reader, is the punchline nobody wants to hear.

We are doomed.

Not with a bang. Not with a dramatic movie explosion. But slowly. Lazily. While resenting the button we have to press. While searching for a plane that vanished. While building wings we cannot fly.

Doomed.

But hey, at least we have robots. Eventually. Maybe. If nature allows.