From a Drop of Oil to the Future of Humanity: A Curious Journey Through Energy, Civilization, and Ourselves

We live in a world shaped by unseen forces. From the gasoline that powers our cars, to the moment our phone screen lights up, to the distant and complex conflicts in international news, hidden threads connect them all. Today, let's embark on a curious journey, like inquisitive children, to explore interconnected "whys" that might seem unrelated at first glance.

Stop 1: Earth's "Kitchen" – Why is the Middle East Rich in Oil, While China is Rich in Coal?

Many know that oil and coal are the "legacy" of ancient organisms. But have you ever wondered why some places became "giant oil tanks" and others "giant coal bunkers"? This is because Mother Earth, at different times, cooked up two distinctly flavored "energy feasts" using different "recipes."

The birth of oil is a romance and tragedy of the ocean.

Imagine over a hundred million years ago, when the Middle East was a warm, shallow sea called the Tethys Ocean. It was a paradise for tiny plankton, bathed in sunlight, teeming with life. When these billions of tiny creatures died, their "remains" sank to the oxygen-deprived seabed. The lack of oxygen acted like a natural preservative, preventing decay and allowing them to mix with sediment and accumulate in layers.

This is just the first step: preparing the ingredients.

Next, tectonic movements buried these organic-rich "oil source rocks" deep underground. At depths of several kilometers, the temperature and pressure were just right, like a precisely controlled "pressure cooker," slowly "simmering" these ancient life remains for millions of years. Organic matter was gradually broken down and transformed into liquid oil.

This second step is called: careful cooking.

Finally, and most crucially: perfect storage. Once oil is formed, it seeps upwards. Coincidentally, tectonic plate collisions squeezed the Middle Eastern strata into huge, inverted bowl-shaped "anticlines." These "bowls" were covered with a layer of dense, impermeable rock, like a tightly sealed lid. Thus, the oil "brewed" from the depths was trapped in these natural giant "oil tanks" for billions of years, never escaping.

So, Middle Eastern oil is the masterpiece of marine plankton. It requires a fertile ancient ocean, just the right burial depth, and a perfectly sealed "storage tank," all three being indispensable.

The formation of coal, on the other hand, is an epic and tragic tale of land plants.

Let's rewind to the more ancient "Carboniferous Period" over 300 million years ago. At that time, the Earth's atmosphere had extremely high carbon dioxide levels and a warm, humid climate, practically a paradise for plants. The Earth saw the first appearance of towering primeval forests, with giant ferns growing to heights of thirty or forty meters.

But an evolutionary "bug" emerged: to support themselves, these plants evolved hard "lignin," and the bacteria and fungi on Earth at the time had not yet learned how to decompose this new substance!

What did this mean? When these towering trees fell en masse, they hardly rotted, like the treated lumber we use today. Over tens of millions of years, layers upon layers of "wood" accumulated and were buried by sediment, pressed deep underground. Under high temperature and pressure, they dehydrated, carbonized, and eventually became the coal seams we see today.

So, coal is the remains of giant terrestrial plants. Its formation benefited from a special historical period - plant evolution was ahead, while decomposers (microorganisms) lagged behind.

Stop 2: The Mystery of Nuclear Energy – Why is "Immense Power" Hidden in Tiny Atomic Nuclei?

Having discussed fossil fuels, let's talk about the ultimate energy mastered by mankind - nuclear energy. Why can a tiny nuclear bomb release enough energy to destroy a city?

The answer lies in Einstein's famous equation: E = mc².

This formula tells us that mass (m) and energy (E) are two forms of the same thing, and they can be converted into each other. The efficiency of this conversion is determined by the astronomical figure of the speed of light squared (c²). This means that even the disappearance of a tiny amount of mass can be converted into incredibly vast energy.

In nuclear reactions, this "disappearance of mass" precisely occurs.

• Atomic Bomb (Fission): An unstable heavy nucleus (such as uranium-235), when struck by a neutron, splits into two lighter nuclei. The amazing thing is that the combined mass of these two new nuclei is lighter than the original heavy nucleus. This tiny amount of "disappeared" mass is instantly converted into huge energy.
• Hydrogen Bomb (Fusion): The process is reversed, "squeezing" two very light nuclei (such as hydrogen isotopes) into a heavier nucleus under ultra-high temperature and pressure. Similarly, the newly formed nucleus is also lighter than the sum of the original two. This part of the disappeared mass is also converted into energy, and the efficiency is higher than fission.

This is the essence of nuclear energy: it is not a chemical reaction like burning coal, but a direct conversion of "mass" into "energy" within the atomic nucleus. Because the coefficient c² is so large, nuclear energy is so terrifying.

A Tactical Question: Why are Nuclear Bombs Detonated in the Air?

This is entirely for maximizing destructive efficiency.

Imagine if a nuclear bomb exploded on the ground, most of the energy would be used to blast a large crater, and the shock wave would be blocked by the ground, not propagating far. But if detonated at an altitude of several hundred meters, the shock wave would radiate downwards, reflecting back upon contact with the ground and overlapping with subsequent shock waves, forming a stronger "Mach wave" that would sweep away everything on the surface like a bulldozer. At the same time, the fireball in the air is unobstructed, and light and heat energy can travel to the farthest extent, causing the largest range of burning.

Therefore, airburst is the best choice for leveling a city.

Stop 3: The Crossroads of Civilization – The Division of "East and West" and "Anti-Human" Customs

Having talked about the physical world, let's enter the more complex human society. We often hear terms like "Western civilization" and "Islamic civilization," but the Earth is a sphere, so where is the absolute "East and West"?

This discourse actually originates from a Eurocentric historical perspective. During the Age of Exploration, Europeans used themselves as the origin of the coordinate system, naming the "Near East" and "Far East." Later, they regarded their own social model as "advanced" and "modern," while regarding other regions as "traditional" and "backward." Thus, a geographical concept was superimposed with value judgments.

This leads to a more pointed question: Should we tolerate traditions that seem "backward, ignorant, and anti-human" (such as honor killings, cannibalism) in the name of "respect for cultural diversity?"

This is a difficult philosophical choice. If we adhere to absolute "cultural relativism," then we will be unable to condemn any atrocity, because any behavior may have its "rationality" under a specific culture. This is obviously absurd.

A more preferable position is: respect cultural diversity, but adhere to the universal bottom line of human rights.

• What is diversity that can be respected? Diet, clothing, festivals, art... These are the colorful garments of culture, making the world diverse and colorful.
• What is "anti-human" that must be intervened in? Any behavior that causes serious, involuntary physical or mental harm to an individual, such as live sacrifices, forced child marriages, torture, etc. These behaviors violate the most basic rights to survival and dignity as a "person," transcending the scope of cultural differences.

The real goal is not to use force to "eliminate" a certain civilization, but to promote the self-evolution and demise of those harmful customs through education, empowerment, and promoting internal forces for reform. After all, no civilization is static.

The End of the Journey: Back to Ourselves

From the formation of a drop of oil to the principle of an atomic bomb, to the conflict and fusion of civilizations, it is not difficult for us to discover a pattern: everything we see today is the result of the combined effects of a long history and complex factors.

The depletion of oil may no longer be the biggest concern; instead, it is the energy transition after "peak demand"; the terrifying balance of nuclear weapons constantly reminds us of the fragility of human reason; and the understanding of different civilizations tests our wisdom and empathy.

The end of this curious journey is actually back to ourselves. Understanding the complexity of the world can reduce our taken-for-granted arrogance and increase our careful thinking. Because we are not only residents of this planet, but also participants in history and shapers of the future. And it all starts with a simple and powerful thought - "Why?"