What lies out there? But more importantly, what lies within us? When I had pondered the answer to life, the universe, and everything, it was Douglas Adams that told me to look no further. Simply put, the answer was “42”.
I found this idea to be humorously absurd, that the explanation behind the complex workings of our planets and of the vast and ever expanding universe could be just a number (even if it was in a work of fiction). Only now do I understand the true message of that number, of “42”: it points to the simplicity and accessibility of the answer we seek, a simplicity that I have come to connect with the theory of evolution and our own promising biology.
Growing up, my dad was a large influence on everything I did: from the music I listened to, to the books I read. My dad was the one who handed me the Hobbit when I was in third grade, inspiring my love of fantasy; ironically, he was also the one who religiously read texts on evolutionary biology. To him, the only God is Charles Darwin, a concept that would come to stick with me. From the outside, one would be shocked at how a man, who had been religiously indoctrinated his whole life and could recite Jain prayers from the top of his head, could abandon it all in pursuit of his truth. Many people share their stories about how they felt a tug between religion and science; for me, both yanked me away in the same direction, leaving no room for resistance. I was awed by my father, by the pursuit he chose, and even more so by the gray area between religion and science. Though I followed in his footsteps and became an atheist, I sympathized with the cohesion of science and the holy in Jainism, with its primary belief that it is from our rational pursuit of knowledge and nonviolent relations with other living beings that we can find the answer to existence. I found myself attracted to the plainness of the Jain lifestyle, and of the answers one can find in the sheer simplicity and peace of their surroundings. From this mélange of evolution and simplicity, I began to sense that a sole, core link lay in everything that we do, and in how we interact with life around us.
It is this search for a common link, for the silent communication between humanity and the life around us, that drew me to evolutionary biology and the theory of evolution. The vast potential of evolutionary studies and their applicability to nearly all areas of life is what kept me entranced and constantly researching and reading authors like Carl Zimmer and Charles Darwin. What continues to surprise me is the fact that all of us have our own unique connection to the idea of evolution, to searching for that common link. The literature that we read is full of countless examples of this. In The Odyssey, Odysseus had to undergo countless battles with mythical creatures, escape the grip of Calypso, and forge alliances before he could reunite with Penelope and his son. In The Lord of The Rings, Frodo had to undergo numerous trials and tribulations on his journey across Middle Earth, connect with his companions, and look into his own heart before he was able to toss the ring into the fires of Mount Doom. Neither of these heroes were able to find the answers to what they seeked until they gained an understanding of themselves and those around them. To Frodo and Odysseus, the idea of evolution presented itself as a key, with the potential to unlock all doors of conflict.
To me, the idea of evolution is like a beautiful flower: multi-faceted, providing us with the core intricacies of life, telling us to look no further than ourselves and those who share the air we breathe. The Doctor in Doctor Who understood this beauty: even after all his travels through the grandeur of space and time, he remained fixated on human beings. It was as if he knew that the answers to all the mysteries of the universe lay within this one species. His trust in humanity inspired my trust in humanity and in our importance and intelligence, adding to my belief that the one elusive answer that we search for lies within ourselves, hidden under our very noses.
Though the answer to life, the universe, and everything is far too intricate to be quantified, I truly sympathize with the idea of the number “42”. The number “42” tells us that we don’t have to look too far to find what we seek, that our own biology and the way we evolved in relation to other species will give us the answers to our maladies and our future. At the core of the theory of evolution lies the core idea of looking into oneself and finding connection with others, deriving the wonder in simplicity, the beauty in the things we have now, so that we can be unyieldingly confident and bold in the face of the new challenges that we may encounter. Just as Darwin saw the beauty of evolution in the beaks of the Galapagos finches, I am confident that we only have to look into ourselves and the life around us to answer our most complex of problems. I believe that we have a long way to go in understanding the fundamental laws of evolution and how they tie us to our surroundings, wherein lies the key to our past, present, and future. This is the “42” that we seek.
– Pihu J.