Monday, June 6, 2011

Transformers : More than meets the eye and the brain!


It was a belief not many decades back that earth is the only planet with life on it. This fact has taken a turn for the better, with now the possibility of extraterrestrial life being explored at a much larger scale. Those familiar with Drakes equation would know that ‘Drake used the equation to estimate that there are approximately 10,000 planets in the Milky Way galaxy containing intelligent life with the possible capability of communicating with Earth’(Wiki). This further expanded into the universe creates a possibility of entities more intelligent that humans existing across the universe. I just wanted this background to be brought up for the main discussion : Inorganic and highly intelligent extraterrestrial life aka The Transformers!

The existence of Transformers (As well as other science fictional being) has been questions many times. This is most likely due to the God like status associated with such beings. It is difficult to believe that the Green Lantern ring is the most powerful weapon in the universe as it is difficult to accept that inorganic life-form from another planet takes the form of a truck and moves around earth. I believe that we’re forgetting basic science here. We live in a world of governed by Matter and Energy. Energy can be converted from one form to another. Energy can also be converted into matter and vice-versa. So why can matter not be transformed into other forms of matter? This is the basis of my argument that the possibility of Transformers existence is present and not absent.

We live in a world governed by transformations. We ourselves have transformed from apes to better-than-apes over a period of time. The possibility thus exists of beings who have mastered evolution thus rendering the time period between their transformations negligible. These beings have evolved way beyond our wildest imagination. It is often said that one century’s magic is the next century’s science. What happens when we transcend centuries? What happens in a hundred centuries? Not even time can tell us this answer.

We chose carbon for the composition of our body from the elements available on earth. Even after assuming that the elements in the periodic table as definitive, there would be beings made out of a completely different element, or even a combination of elements. We transform our body with methods which include simple workouts to genetic/artificial manipulations. In a similar manner, these beings would transform their bodies; and when you make time a variable element and accept the fact that the race is highly advanced compared to us humans, you have ‘The Transformers’.

Why he transforms into a vehicle is because they adapted to the environment of earth, to us humans. They always transform back to a more suitable form when fighting; they adapt quickly to the environment, to the form that suits the situation (Although at times this transformation has been known to have its limitations). Why do they transform into a civilian vehicles when the enemies transform into military vehicles? Cause Autobots represent peace and use their form as a symbol while Decepticons represent destruction and use military vehicles to represent that symbolism. Symbols are after all, a powerful communicator of ideas and views.

This takes me to the final thought in this article. A choice exists when we are told to believe something that doesn’t exist. But I see no harm in believing. May it be magic, ghosts, supernatural or aliens. And when that day comes, I hope I will have the audacity to accept them into our lives or the courage to fight them to prevent the extinction of human race!