Philosophical Implications for Humanity - Research Paper Example

? Death of the Sun: Philosophical Implications for Humanity The Sun is one of the most important things that are present in mankind. Without it, life on Earth would cease to exist. All forms of life in our planet depend on the energy that we get from the Sun. Not only did our ancestors benefit from it as a source of energy, they also used the Sun as a symbol for religion. There were many groups of people existed from ancient times that worshipped the Sun as a supreme entity or a god. The Sun has been with mankind since our existence. But just like any other forms of life or entities that exist in the universe, the Sun will eventually die. Scientists have pointed out that in a billion years, our Sun will run out of energy and die. That one important detail draws questions, let alone fear, about what could be the implications after the death of our sun. Every life form on our planet, as we know it, depends on our Sun. Humans, plants, animals, and even non-living objects need the Sun. For us, humans, almost all of our daily activities are associated with the energy that we get from the Sun. It enables us to function properly. Every morning when we wake up, the rising of the sun signals to start our day. It sheds light for us to see our surroundings. It emits heat to keep ourselves warm. It can help produce electricity especially in areas that cannot be reached by power lines. It can make our physical bodies healthy. It can be used to cook food for us to eat. These are just some of the many examples on how our Sun affects and helps our daily lives. Though you can enumerate a lot of things how the Sun is beneficial to mankind, there are also hazards that come with it. Though the Sun can beneficial with regards to our health, it can also do harm to our bodies. Worse, it can also take away lives of people and other forms of life. The Sun also has the capacity to destroy buildings, houses, even forests and habitats of animals. Not only was the Sun valuable to mankind as a source of energy, it also played a part on affecting people’s way of thinking and belief. The light that the Sun emits symbolizes hope, truth, or renewal to some people (Stanford.edu). Anything that has a beginning also has an end. And so it goes with the Sun. Eventually, it will use up all its energy and die. There had been a lot of speculations regarding what will happen to mankind when the sun dies and science tells us that our species nor any life on earth will not be able to witness this astronomical even because all life on earth will have already died a hundred thousand years before the sun stops shining. But it is not possible to imagine life without light from the sun and the circumstances that mankind may face after the sun stops shining. Almost all of us are accustomed to see everything around us thanks to the light that our Sun provides. But what if there’s no Sun? It’s as almost as we’re putting ourselves in the shoes of a totally blind person. Imagine a world engulfed with darkness because of the absence of our Sun. When you go home at night, the first thing that you do is to instinctively look for the switch to turn on the lights. Now imagine a world where there’s no switch to turn on the lights at your home. Even when you go outside, there’s nothing to see but the little bright dots at the sky that we call “stars”. Our moon would not even be there because no other light source would make it shine. Without the Sun, the plants in our planet would cease to exist. The light that the Sun emits is essential for the plants to create food to be able to survive. Let’s not forget the important fact that the plants are responsible for producing oxygen in our environment. So, without the sun, there would be no plants to generate oxygen and that means humans, and animals would not be able to survive (Gamow 2). Not having a Sun also means our planet would travel across the universe aimlessly because of the gravitational pull of the sun that keeps the Earth on its orbit (Appell). These are just some of the scientific consequences that humanity might face in the absence of the Sun. A world without light The sunlight does not just act as a tool for us to see tangible things around us. It is also used as an astrological, astronomical, psychological, and religious symbol. In the astrological and religious context, the sun was one of the most important or central part of pagan worship, The Ancient Egyptians had a sun-god in the name of Ra. The Ancient Greeks had Helios. The Early Roman Empire had Sol Invictus, and so on. It seems that almost all ancient civilizations have their own solar deity. Interestingly, even in today’s world, there are still religions and cults that worship the sun or have sun-gods like the Japanese Shintoism’s goddess of the sun, Amaterasu (Gill). In the psychological aspect, the sunlight implies righteousness, hope, rebirth, happiness, and other positive traits. On the contrary, the absence of light, or darkness, signifies fear, sadness, evil, and even death (Stanford.edu). Although there are so many positive things that can be associated with light as well as the bad things to the absence of light, it can also be the other way around. For example, darkness can be attributed to calmness, peace, and rest while light can cause confusion, diversion, or even blindness because of too much light. In a world where light can no longer be seen because of the absence of the sun, not only will we lose the sense of the things around us, we would also lose more important things like the concept of optimism, chance of a new beginning, and appreciation. No sense of direction. Without stating the obvious, we need light to see. With the absence or death of the Sun., all creatures, especially mankind, would have no or limited of sight which affects our sense of direction. We can take “sense of direction” literally and also figuratively. In the literal sense, it’s going to be really hard for us to travel and go about doing what we are supposed to if we could hardly see anything. Losing one’s sense of direction is very hard for you do not know whether you are near your goal or have strayed far from it. Without the sun there will be limited light and that darkness may translate also into our own lives. People might lose their direction in achieving their dreams and aspirations due to the change in their environment. One may lose the drive to be better or aspire for greatness because the world has changed and priorities may not be the same as when the sun was shining. This is the figurative sense of losing one’s direction. Losing one’s sense of sight. Without the sun, humans would face the adjustment of losing one of our senses because our eyes would have little to no more use. The whole world would surely miss the intricacies of colors and visible textures that we can view through our eyes and we will also miss the rainbows in the sky. Many people who were able to see once in their lives but have lost their eye sight due to illness or injury have become depressed and cynic. Many people will also succumb to depression when the sun is gone. But I believe that we humans in nature are resilient and we will learn to adjust to the condition of living in near darkness. It is not as much as an issue of losing our sense of sight, we will still be able to see but in a very limited sense. But when we treasure the moments that we can see, and then everything will be wonderful and not as dark and dreary as one might imagine. Different depths of interaction. Without the sun, our interactions with our fellow would largely be different than that which we have now. Mankind is already susceptible to trust issues, lies, and deceit based on the things that we observe with our eyes. We often judge people by how they look and we are victims of biased judgment ourselves. We don’t really take time to get to know people and that is a sorry thing for the relationships that we build is just like our standard for beauty – only skin deep. With the death of the sun, we will be relying more on our other senses, and we will be forced to see others beyond what they look like. We will also be forced to depend upon each other more and to build relationships out of trust because we can’t really see that much and we just have to trust our friends and family in the conduct of our day to day lives – that they too will act for the sake of other’s and their safety and wellbeing. Yes, electricity would still be there after the sun dies so an artificial light source will still be available. Sunlight as photographers describe it is “pure light”. It reveals all the imperfections but it is also the most forgiving of all the types of light can we can actually see well with sunlight. In the absence of the sun’s rays due to its death, our vision will be blurry and distorted so that’s why we need to make our sense of direction grounded, our other senses honed, and our relationships founded in trust so that we’ll still be able to live less dreary lives. A world without heat The death or absence of our Sun can also mean that there will be no heat. The Earth is perfectly placed in our solar system so we could receive the right amount of heat from the Sun. If our planet is a little bit closer to the sun, we would burn and definitely die. If our planet is moved a little bit farther from the sun, we would freeze and die (Appell). Either way, if our planet is placed not where it’s at right now, mankind would not be able to survive. As of today, scientists are still trying to find another planet that can be considered as our second shelter yet there’s no other place in the universe that is as perfectly placed from its star like the Earth. Aside from the scientific concept, the heat that we get from the Sun can also be attributed to non-physical things such as happiness, security, and even life. The absence of the Sun would negate those attributes that would give mankind the feeling of loneliness, anxiety, and death. Fires will be ignited. One source of heat that we have used for centuries is fire. Since the time men first wielded it, it became a driving force that spearheaded the technological advancements that enabled us to build the civilizations that we have today. When the sun dies and fails to give off warmth, the earth will turn to a cold and hostile environment. Yes there is still electricity so artificial heaters may provide a source of warmth but I know that may fires will be ignited during the time after the sun dies. Fires are not there just to keep warm; it is also a source of light and can be used as a weapon, and a tool. As actual fires are started and kept, the fire of survival within each man and woman will also start to burn brightly. The times ahead will be hard but as long as the fire within us lives, we will find a way to survive. The fire of love and passion may also be kindled during this time for we will seek warmth in the company and reassurance of our loved ones. These types of fires as well as actual fires will keep us alive during the long nights after the sun dies. They will be the key to our survival and resilience. When the sun ceases to shine, a dichotomy in attitudes will play an important in our survival: will we see it as a license to let out the animal inside of us in the hopes of surviving the cold, harsh and desolate landscape or will we see it as an opportunity to make share warmth to our fellow? As mentioned earlier, the absence and presence of light and heat is not just like a coin where one side, the presence of light, does not exclusively represent all the positive attributes such as hope and happiness while the other side automatically represents all the negative traits that can be attributed to darkness, or the absence of light. For one thing, if mankind is placed in a crisis where the Sun is no more and the environment where we live is totally engulfed in darkness, that situation would definitely bring out either the best or the worst behavior of man. Utopia or Dystopia? Ultimately, it is up to us to decide what how we will react and act when the sun dies. Will we create a utopia in the darkness? Or will we allow the absence of light at heat turn our society into a more of a dystopian one? When our good nature overcomes the bad and we help each other, then life will continue to flourish even without the sun. But when we place more regard on our needs and our survival, then we will eventually destroy ourselves and perish in the cold darkness. In the 1st few decades after the sun dies, the earth will still have resources to feed all of mankind but as plants cease to bear fruit and die because of the scarcity of light we may be forced to fight for the meager resources. This would not be the case if we learn to share the little that we have and if we do not selfishly horde resources for ourselves. Having no sun is devastating but there is no problem that can’t be weathered out as long as we don’t turn on each other. Works Cited Gamow, George. The Birth and Death of the Sun. New York: The Viking Press, 1940. Print. Appell, David. “The Sun Will Eventually Engulf Earth—Maybe.” Scientific American. N.p. 8 Sep. 2008. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. Stanford Solar Center. “Solar Symbolism, Ancient and Modern.” Stanford.edu. N.p. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. Gill, N.S. “Sun Gods and Sun Goddesses.” About.com. N.p. 11 Jan 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. Read More