One Minute to Midnight

The present will not long endure. - Pindar, Greek poet

Theoretical physicist Stephen W. Hawking recently went public to post the following question on Yahoo:

In a world that is in chaos politically, socially and environmentally, how can the human race sustain another 100 years?

I studied the question for a whole week. The words began to sound more like a rhetorical statement warning damnation than a pointed question needing dire solution. If arguably the smartest man on the planet is posing the most important question left in civilization, human beings must indeed be teetering on the brink of self-destruction. If utter genius does not have answers to save the species from extinction, does he think Yahoo members can pop off instant messages to save the world? Could the real intent of Hawking's question be to unify the troubled world?

I have been sharing Hawking's pessimism for years. Mankind’s continued consumption and complication of this world only reinforces my position of retreat as a fatalist. Despite the unfathomable good inside us, I too believe that human beings have long been ignoring their spirit and erring on a wayward course towards annihilation. As we reach the tipping point, inhospitable reminders beg our attention. Tsunamis. Category 4 hurricanes. A depleted ozone layer. Global warming. World hunger. Animal species becoming extinct. Overpopulation. Deforestation. The splintering of countries and religions. Nuclear armament. Terrorism on a global scale. The cycle of war.

I personally do not believe there is enough international consensus to seize the moment and right our course. Hawking outlines a hundred year timeline but that is like one minute to midnight on the earth’s clock. It may take a world event by a higher power to ignite an awakening in mankind to save the planet he cruelly inhabits. A big bang to force us from a black hole! Which brings me to my return email to one Stephen Hawking.

Extraterrestrial intervention may be the only way, Stephen. -Joe Tornatore