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“”Chaos is a name for any order that produces confusion in our mind” Poet and philosopher George Santayana |
1 – Cruel Creation
The most puzzling aspect of the universe is its “evil” nature. Why must we witness and endure so much misery? Why so many conflicts, catastrophes, accidents and diseases? How can we make sense of such a harsh Creation.
Religions attempt to supply explanations: dark natural forces, pantheons of irascible gods, cosmic significance of suffering. Because pain afflicts as well the young and the innocent, some would like us to believe that the whole humankind is cursed because of sinful antecedents. The past mistakes of our forebears would justify the eternal punishment of their whole descent.
But humans are not alone to suffer natural tragedies. Plants and animals alike are victims of scourges and illnesses. The universe is as ruthless with the tree burned in a wildfire as with the ant crushed under a boot, or the human consumed by a cancer. For many, such mindless and random devastation only proves that there is no intelligence or purpose in the evolution of universe.
No doubt, it is difficult to understand a creation where so many thrive on the death of others, where millions are born and only a few survive, where perplexing behavior and dismal events never stop affecting us. But here again, and as these pages will show, Eternism offers unique answers to our legitimate questioning.
2 – Chaos
Lively Eternons are everywhere in the universe, and in immense numbers. A consequence of this multitude of (relatively) free Eternons is the inherent instability of their gatherings. An instability that only hierarchic order can restrain.
Hierarchy, however, is absent from large gatherings of similar Eternons such as galaxies, stars, clouds, streams, oceans, mountains, or volcanoes. Their total aggregate does not obey deterministic laws any more than the individual particles that make them. Within them, the same cause does not always produce the same effect. Hence our incapacity to accurately predict their behavior.
We trust that there are universal laws because, in their average, atoms and molecules play by the rules. We develop reliable products and technologies because, at a specific level, physical sciences have validity. Yet, in spite of their remarkable degree of precision, “exact” sciences remain approximate. When dealing with huge number of Eternons, they only discern chaos.
This imprecision shatters the dream of those scientists seeking to encompass the entire universe in rigid rules. Conversely, for a new breed of researchers, it opens fascinating new fields of research. Fractal geometry attempts to account for the many forms found in nature. The Theory of Chaos tries to introduce some coherence within anarchic phenomena.
Preliminary findings suggest that order is hidden within disorder. Further studies will reveal that our seemingly erratic universe is permeated with a consciousness never imagined. Eventually, as we close the gap between physics and metaphysics, we shall better understand and accept the unpredictable behavior of these Eternon structures that together we call “Nature.”
3 – Accidents
Motion is a universal feature. Even when it escapes our perception, motion occurs in one way or another. Atoms of a steel bar invisibly quiver in their lattice homes. Gas molecules race chaotically about. Continents imperceptibly drift apart. Galaxies spiral at astounding velocities.
Motion is life. Seeds and pollen fly in the wind. Sap flows within branches. Blood pumps within veins. Impulses travel along nerves. Organisms crawl, swim, run, climb, jump, fly, in endless ways. Motion is so ubiquitous, and in some places structures are so many, that accidental collisions are unavoidable.
When great masses of Eternons simply follow their unguided course, their encounter with further masses often generates the catastrophes that pound heaven and earth with devastating consequences. Storms, floods, eruptions, and all the great convulsions of nature can be imputed to random movements and contacts of immense assemblages of Eternons
Colliding is not the privilege of large groups of Eternons. Individual particles traveling at enormous speed keep smashing into larger structures. Some radiation penetrates molecules or genes and, like a bowling ball into the pins, sends their pieces flying into disorder. This is often the origin of unfavorable mutations and severe diseases.
Unfortunate collisions happen as well between the many moving parts and flowing substances that are found within every organism. For instance, rushing blood cells may hit and dislodge a fatty deposit and cause a stroke.
The motion of entire structures, including ourselves and the machines we build, often ends in violent encounters. Hence, the countless forms of accidents we witness.
All these distressing events are not acts of hostility. They do not carry a message. They do not punish wrongdoing. They are fortuitous consequences of the way Eternon structures are created and evolve. They are the price to pay for a universe that is alive. For to be without collisions, this universe would have to be without motion, frozen, and lifeless.
4 – Infections
Organisms do not exist in isolation. They belong to interlocked communities. In this promiscuous environment, it is common to see Eternons trespassing boundaries. The devastation caused by invaders such as viruses and bacteria brings us to question their significance in the realm of Eternons.
First, let us observe that infectious ailments are exceptions. Parasites live in, on, or from, every possible being and, yet, relations between parasites and hosts are overwhelmingly pacific.
As we look at a typical battle during an infection, we discover that it is not David against Goliath. It is not a minute creature against a giant one. Rather, it is a war of tiny Eternon structures. Some simply happen to belong to larger beings like us who are not the targets but innocent passersby caught in a shoot-out.
The combative tiny Eternon structures first appear to be microorganisms, but, when we look more closely, we discover that these microorganisms are actually mere vehicles. They carry even smaller combatants: proteins and nucleic acids. These molecules are able to spot each other and engage in deceptive strategies. Some even develop new strains resisting to old defensive weapons. Infections prove once more how deep within matter, active consciousness is to be found.
Infections also reveal that not all Eternons follow the symbiotic order that prevails in the universe. But Lead Eternons are aware of this situation. They equip their structures with an arsenal of natural defenses. The immunity systems they have developed are marvels of complexity and intelligence.
Lead Eternons are gradually infusing into the mind of scientists the knowledge to combat harmful invaders. To be convinced of this, it suffices to look at the number of medical discoveries that are fruits of stunning insights. We can be confident that eventually all battles will be won.
5 – Diseases
A human structure grows to be made of a hundred trillion cells. Most keep on dividing for their entire lifetime. Every division demands the perfect copy of some three billion DNA base pairs. A cell itself is made of billions of molecules that need to work correctly at all times. With such astounding numbers of Eternons involved, glitches are simply a matter of statistical probability.
In addition, Eternons within a same structure have diverse histories and aptitudes. Some lack experience. Others simply may not fit in the hierarchy. So many Eternons are joined to build any organic structures that it is no wonder if occasionally a few are misplaced and become the source of serious disorders.
Failure during DNA replication will result in genetic and hereditary troubles. Dissonance with the rest of the organism will create metabolic problems as distinct as anemia, hypertension, or cancer. If the culprit Eternons affect the brain, it will destabilize the whole structure. An individual will develop mental illness. Another will turn aggressive, destroying, hurting, or even killing. Still, a third will give himself to intoxicating substances.
Medical science works hard at discovering how to treat these various ailments. Most of the time, it means bringing to the organism new and more competent Eternons in the form of medications and nutrients. Holistic forms of healing will also gain wider acceptance as ever more humans recognize that their body is managed by conscious Eternons. Using the power of the mind, or in other words stimulating the intervention of the organism’s own Lead Eternon, will become routine. Diseases may not disappear soon, but cures will dramatically improve.
6 – Predation
In nearly every film on the animal kingdom, we are exposed to distressing images. A lion tears apart a live antelope. A praying mantis devours the head of her mate. A snake swallows a quaking rodent. Indeed, the feeding frenzy goes well beyond our planet. It is universal and comes in all sizes, from the microscopic to the galactic. Invisible plankton grazes on invisible algae in the same way massive black holes prey on unsuspecting stars. Nature seems an immense restaurant where every customer, sooner or later, ends as the main course. Why is it so?
We must keep in mind that Eternons assemble ever more complex structures with only one objective: building up information content and consciousness. Nutrition is a way to do the work efficiently. On Earth, every structure is a nutrient insofar as it helps to construct another structure. Particles are food for atoms. Atoms are food for crystals and organic molecules. Molecules are food for microorganisms and plants. Plants are food for animals.
Intelligently, organisms absorb essential molecules prepared within other organisms instead of always cooking them up from basic ingredients. Processed food saves time, energy, and space, just as in any household. As the intricacy of a life form increases, so does its craving for ready made parts. Since it is almost impossible to get these parts without taking them from other organisms, structures have to prey on each other. How come Eternons have retained what seems a rather crude process to foster evolution? Well, let us envision what could be the alternatives.
We could imagine a universe where everyone would consume energy instead of matter. In the process, however, only the most basic Eternons would be transferred. Their contribution to higher structures would be minimal. The food chain would have only one rung and no real evolution would be possible.
We could imagine a universe where only basic chemicals would be ingested, with no life lost. But, as above, it would entail a lack of complex molecules for higher organisms.
We could imagine a universe where no living structure would be eaten before its natural death. But what exactly is a dead structure? Lively seeds abound in fruit. Lively molecules await in preserved food.
Eternons have set up predation as a process unsurpassed in efficiency to shuffle and enrich their structures. Besides, predation is far from blind killing. Eternons have been conservationists long before humans worried about endangered species. They have always known that eradicating the prey brings about the end of the predator.
Whether the sheep eats the grass, or the wolf eats the sheep, the same always happens: an Eternon structure ceases to exist to become a nutrient for another one. Food and death are inseparable. But the end of the structure is not the end of its Eternons. Life goes on. Although everyone keeps eating everyone in the great restaurant of nature, it all begins to look far more reasonable.
7 – Coming Order
In spite of all the tragedies we witness and experience, we do not live in utter anarchy. Discord is the exception among the immense number of Eternons who make the universe. Much of what we consider evil and cruel is part of a natural process.
Creation is far from being flawless, but its shortcomings merely reflect the imperfect “lifestyles” of an infinite variety of Eternon structures. These structures are bound to be at odds sometimes, but this is part of the whole evolution. Eternons whose consciousness is constantly rising are busy improving this cosmic unfolding. Absolute harmony remains their objective and they will reach it.
Let us remember that our life as a human is only a few frames in the long reel of our existence as an Eternon. It is too brief for us to find perfect sense in the events of the moment. Only the entire film would reveal how order emerges from chaos.
The construction of the universe is far from ended. On Earth, evolution is as much ahead of humankind as it is behind. A time will come when the realm of Eternons will be free from colliding trajectories, aggressive invaders, confused members, and hungry predators. By then, humans will no longer be Earth’s most sophisticated structures. More advanced creations will have emerged. But each of us will be one of them. For as structures we pass, but as Eternons we endure.
