The draw of doomsday:

Why people look forward to the end

We are brought into being; cherished into growth; propelled into life; and then, all we do is to look forward to the end of all our activities. We marry; beget children; savour grandchildren; enjoy or suffer old age; and then, look forward to the end of samsara.

We entertain; or are entertained; and as the enjoyment peaks; we tire of it all, and look forward to the end of it all. So on and so forth, in almost all activities of our life, and in living, there comes a time when we look forward to the end of that which gave us pleasure or pain. Be it joy or agony, why do people look forward to the end of it all? What is the draw of doomsday?

I can understand, humans looking forward to the end of misery. But to long for the end of: joy, delight, ecstasy, and rapture? We are aware that our life itself has to end some day. But do we have to live looking forward to it and awaiting it?

Doomsday is defined as the day of the last judgement, or of any final judgement. The origin of the concept of doomsday (also spelt as ‘domesday’) is from Christian philosophy. The Abrahamic traditions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, predict an apocalypse when the world will be destroyed, the people judged, and a new world begun.

In fact, early Christians expected the end to come within a generation after Christ’s crucifixion.

The 2012 phenomenon is a belief that on December 21, the 5,125 year Fourth World of the Mayan Long Count calendar will end in some kind of apocalyptic or transformative event, and the next world will begin. Modern scholars say that while the Mayans would have celebrated this date, predictions of a global catastrophe are un-warranted. Whatever be the religious predictions for the end of the world, the fact is that all religions of the world, without exception and more often than not, have misinformed their people on all matters, including religious; and, continue to do so to this day. This is due to the fact that most people are interested in religionism and not the essence of religious teachings.

However, we now know that, apart from all the prophesying for the end of the world, the world itself poses threats to our survival. Astronomy and Physics show us that the universe is a risky place to live. Space is full of threats which could wipe out life on earth, or even destroy the earth itself.

Changing climate; a super volcano; the ocean impact of a large astral object which could cause a mega tsunami that could wipe out the entire coastline of a continent; a star explosion or supernova, occurring within a 100 light-years of earth could affect our atmosphere and rain radiation down on our globe, causing a chemical reaction in the earths upper atmosphere, wrecking our protective ozone layer and allowing solar and cosmic radiation in that would harm life worldwide.

In fact, our Milky Way galaxy is on a collision course with Andromeda galaxy which we are due to hit in 2 to 5 billion years and the super-massive black holes within both galaxies will tear them apart and our solar system may be flung out into intergalactic space. Long before that, however, in about 1.4 billion years, life on earth will become impossible due to the slowly increasing intensity of our sun.

Changing environment

Thus, whether man wills it or not, all known and unknown life forms on earth will cease to exist in about a billion and a half years. Earth itself, and all the other planets of the solar system, will be consumed by the expanding sun. Of course, by that time, ingenious man would have found, and migrated to other worlds and even galaxies in the universe. Humanity itself may have altered form and evolved to suit the changing environment.

Hopefully, by that time, we would have shed all the pettiness with which we cloth ourselves at present. In fact, it is a sine qua non that it be so.

If not, I think there is no hope for the survival of mankind.

Pettiness - narrowness of mind or ideas or views - is a Sri Lankan speciality. Come to think of it, in Sri Lanka, most of us live as though we are going to live for the next billion and a half years and beyond. We cling on to things what most enlightened peoples of other nations would consider mundane rubbish. Here, we live for everything and die for nothing.

I would rather say it is better if people lived for something, and are prepared to die for that something. In fact, live every moment as if it’s your last and don’t let anything kill your spirit, no matter how hard life can get sometimes.

It’s about finding the miraculous in the mundane everyday little things that are happening all the time and being grateful for what you have right now. And, we have a whole lot of things to be grateful about, if we know how to appreciate them.

Most of these things come free to us. The bounty of nature requires no payment to savour. Specially in Sri Lanka, nature has blessed us with her bounty like no other nation on earth. There are many countries in the world which have all what we have and more. But none comes so compact, and packed with such variety within such small space.

And yet, how many of us find the time or have the inclination to relish and enjoy this free gifts of nature.

At this point, I wish to quote a poem by William Henry Davies titled “Leisure”:

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.

I learnt this poem as a teenager in the secondary school in Brunei and it had stayed with me ever since. From that first time I read it, it has left a lasting impression; an impression that has not waned even now.

I believe that part of its major appeal is simply that you do not have to strain to understand it and again, its lesson is true for all times. Surely, it will be a poor life indeed if we pack our lives so full of care that we have no time for leisure. Thus, those who have no time to stand and stare; and, marvel, at the bounty that nature provides free of cost, are the people who are more likely to look forward to the end and the call of doomsday. Well readers, see you this day next week. Until then, keep thinking, keep laughing and have time for leisure. Life is mostly about these activities.For views, reviews, encomiums and brick-bats: [email protected]