MATTER AND ANTIMATTER

It is easy to get caught in a world of daydreams of unbridled enthusiasm regarding progression of knowledge and the consequential effects on the development of the human species and world society. After all, who isn’t impressed by nanotechnology, genetics, advances in electronics and communication plus cutting-edge engineering? The optimist sees a future of peace in the house of humanity where poverty, disease, and strife will be contained and mankind is then truly happy. But this is where it gets worrying for the one who thinks that optimist is being, well, quite unrealistic. An unrealistic optimist, uh?

Now, if religion enters our interconnected world-space and warns that “darkness” is lurking to quench the “light” of knowledge and put lots of spanners and monkey wrenches into mankind’s fancy scientific progression, they’d be score that’ll rise to say, “r’ligum is démodé.” This is where it really gets troubling because, truly, there are zillions of scores of hordes who aren’t impressed by nanotechnology, genetics, advances in electronics and communication plus cutting-edge engineering. In fact, this bunch feels threatened by advances in knowledge and improvement of the situation of the living man. Thus, science and technology plus democracy, human rights, feminism, and suchlike ilk become the enemies that “must be stopped by any means whatever.” Such puerile audacity of the disagreeable kind! What impetuousness!! Alas, this is the true state of the world at present. No, ol’ boy, r’ligum is not démodé. This r’ligum knows best. There will be denial of the truth. There will be perpetuation of hunger and disease. There will be strife and persecution; in fact they’d be terrorism aplenty. Is the humanist still cocooned in his world of utter incomprehension? Non-comprendo, signore?

The world should make progress by the absoluteness of the messages of love, peace, selflessness, good investments, education, and a thousand derivatives from the Judeo-Christo sphere. That is “matter,” say. Alas, the “antimatter” lurks and hurtles towards this “matter-system” with the express aim to obliterate it at all costs.

Sunday Adole Jonah,

Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State