Lessons Learned
13,750 Ma: Existence
The figure below is the origin of all things.
Fig. 1: A gravitational singularity.
Of course, such a singularity wouldn't be visible to the eye. Much like a mathematical singularity (think division by zero), a gravitational singularity is a point, not on any Cartesian plane, that has an infinite density in zero volume. Its existence is made possible due to its position in a literal land before time.
What happens next is best understood by mathematics. Imagine the singularity as a function of infinites. Remembering that time does not exist yet, it proceeds to expand in volume. As its volume increases, its density decreases, and the function of infinites begins to evolve.
As a result of introducing finite parameters within its infinite equation, fundamental forces and matter are created, balancing the equation as a product of its ever-expanding volume. Fundamentally, the function of the universe is the same as it's always been. Its values have simply changed to create a different, yet equivalent, physical result.
Fig. 2: The Big Bang as a function of finites.
4,540 Ma: Insignificance
Fast forward. By now, billions of stars, galaxies and earthly bodies have materialized through simple chemical evolution and the forces of gravity. The view is picturesque, filled with everything that inspires us when we look up. In a tiny, insignificant corner of the Milky Way galaxy, a tumultuous, volcanic rock plagued with nonstop assaults from extraterrestrial bodies comes into existence.
However, the amoral invaders bring gifts. Tributes of solid and liquid water flood terra firma to create vast oceans and shape the early atmosphere. With this construct in place, the stage was now set.
Fig. 3: The early atmosphere of the Earth, by volume.
Unwittingly, the Earth had stumbled upon the perfect formula for housing carbon-based lifeforms. In time, she would see herself change from a barren volcanic rock into a sophisticated biosphere built upon complexity and balance.
3,800 Ma: Replication
Somewhere around this time, the planet's first self-replicating organisms appear. They come from a so-called primordial ooze, nowadays theorized to be a foundation of self-replicating RNA molecules. As these prototypical organisms flourish, they naturally discover the basis of modern economics, scarcity.
Competition for resources begins to change these creatures, and flora and fauna spring forth from every eon. As the seas become overcrowded, evolution brings life to land.
200 Ka: Self
Somewhere in Africa, the construct species of the future global dictators is born. They are given tactile skeletons, large brains, and an affinity for technology. Their beginnings would be humble, marked with hardships and an uneasy history that would soon create tribal identities as a means of survival. They would leave the heartlands of Africa and create homes elsewhere. They would become masters of their domain.
Fig. 4: Human migration over time.
1750-1914 AD: Industry
200,000 years out of Africa, and the world was soon to see a boom the likes of which it would be unprepared for. Factories output a seemingly endless line of novel invention and applied technologies. On the face, average incomes soared to unprecedented heights at sustained pace. Life expectancy climbed year after year, and a new middle class came to life. However, the very concept that the prokaryotes once faced would soon rear its ugly head.
Fig. 5: Relative industrialization over time. 1900 UK at 100.
Faced with scarcity of resources and materials, a technological enlightenment occurred. The value of research and development became prominent, and science, it seemed, would march alongside industry on the yellow brick road to utopia.
1990-2010 AD: Information
At some point in our own brief history of time, our attentions shifted. Developed economies no longer cared about production since they could simply exploit emerging markets for labor. As the world quickly adapted to being connected, information soon became the business of choice.
Fig. 6: Percentage internet users over time.
Before the world had a chance to react, information was king. Its utilitarianism was unquestioned, and its popularity was used to rationalize and justify every event under the sun. As wonderful and as powerful of a tool the internet was, it was still simply a tool. Its output could be used for either good or bad, and no degree of connectivity could prevent this unsettling truth. It seemed that pure science would have to wait.
2011-Present: Cosmos
We've briefly examined the history of our universe thus far. However, it is obvious that there is much more to write. As designers of the present, we believe in the principles and traditions of the scientific method, the pursuit of natural truth, and the evolutionary tenets of our own biology.
Though we may not be born with a purpose, we are capable of seeking out the secrets of the natural world, the connections between disparate systems, and our own definitions of the self. We choose not to be products of our environment, but products of our imagination. As history teaches us, evolution occurs in many flavors. It can be slow, sudden, random or planned. Thus, by being prospectors of scientific knowledge, we don't choose control or freedom. We don't choose dreams or reality. We simply choose the future.