Our vision of the future is
the most important characteristic that separates us from
other living organisms.
We visualize a situation or a condition based on understanding of our
surroundings and our knowledge of the past. We are certain that nothing lasts
forever, and not only living organisms are mortal, so are other matters such as
rocks and liquids. The only difference is the time that it takes for each
object to decay. We know by experience that it takes milk two hours to spoil in
room temperature; and it takes a plastic bottle one million years to decompose.
In general, rates of change are different for each object. Therefore, change is
a certainty, but the method and time of change varies. We may expand this to
our galaxy and our universe and our world as a whole. Equipped with historical
knowledge of our galaxy, our universe, and the events that started our world,
scientists can draw a picture of the condition that determines fate of our
world. Depending on how the beginning is theorized, the future can be predicted
as the continuation of the same process. Some scientists have come to the
conclusion that everything started at the point of the Big Bang, and anything
prior to that event is dismissed as irrelevant. A few disregard the idea of the
Big Bang, for a supreme munificent that created everything for a purpose not
disclosed to us. Fewer scientists believe that the creator had designed
everything, and the Big Bang was a part of such design. Some, including Stephen
Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, speculate that it was designed by a scientifically
conceivable natural and logical process, without interference by any supreme
being.
