The Laboratory at the End of the Universe
The second book of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is named after a place in the series’ fictional universe: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. The restaurant isn’t at the edge of the physical space of the universe, but rather at the end of time, at the death of the universe. It exists in a time bubble, safe from any real danger posed by imploding stars and colliding planets. I was very enamored by the idea when I first encountered it; the visual of guests enjoying a pleasant dinner juxtaposed with the world collapsing around them. What would it feel like to eat there?
I don’t know if the world has always been this violent, or if I have only begun to notice it recently. I know, in theory, this is one of the best times in history to be alive. More people live longer, healthier and safer lives than ever before. At the same time, in the short period I’ve been alive, it has been at the same time as genocide, war, violence, apartheid and other humanitarian and human rights crises. Just when I think I have witnessed the worst the world could offer, things take a turn, unfolding events I don’t think any human being should ever experience. I wake up every morning, and briefly read the news. Dead people. Dead children. More dead people. I log off the internet and sit down to start working. Today I need to fix a bug in my code. I need to return an email. I need to update my CV. You see, while I don’t dine at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, I certainly do work at the Laboratory at the End of the Universe. The incubators and centrifuges and plate readers keep humming and buzzing, unaware of the state of the world. I stare at my E. coli colonies. I want to shake them and tell them, “I love you, but you can’t possibly be more important than the dead people!” Of course, there is little I can do to actually help stop anything, so I go back to my desk, turn my computer back on and start fixing the bug.
