Accidents happen, but they are not given their due importance. We remain oblivious that they may follow us like shadows. Well-developed precautions remain inchoate. In our plans, accidents occupy secondary positions. Since their frequencies are rare compared to smooth happenings, they receive superficial recognition. When accidents become real, we think about the incidents and try to make sense of the mishaps according to our cause-and-effect analysis. Sometimes when rareness becomes a reality, we accentuate the quality of the design and blame external factors, calling it a distinct case. Despite their chances in the future, we do not want to miss the multiple occasions when accidents do not materialize.
Our fast-paced life calls for minimizing travel time to reach our destinations. No one can afford to walk or use a horse carriage or cow cart to cover long distances. While reducing travel time we court potential disasters and deal with risk. When speed increases, the probability of accidents also goes up. Since we cannot run continuously, we have to rely on machines to carry us from one point to another. Moreover, we cannot fly like birds, so we use airplanes to perform that role. When every factor works in our favour for machines to function properly, we take this for granted that it will be repeated. However, the greatest blunder is the expectation that accidents cannot happen. We wish the possibilities of disaster away by closing our eyes.
When smoothness becomes normalized, complacency takes over, making accidents invisible. Since the percentage is very low, people do not consider its probability. They make designs where accidents are absent because they are neither expected nor welcome. The notion of safety is an illusion that everyone loves to embrace with open arms. When any component does not play its expected role for various reasons the outcome is called an accident. Gravity always remains silently active in these journeys to reduce travel time. It strikes back once any of the cooperating factors goes missing.No matter how much research is done, accidents will remain hidden in our plans.
The slow pace is censured in modern life. The Shinkansen effect on quotidian engagements jeopardizes our present and future. We measure social progress by the time it takes to reach a particular place. We embellish our calendars with agendas having compressed time. We become insane thinking about travelling at the speed of light. What shall we achieve by gaining lightning speed for human passengers? Our matrix of profit and loss will push our armchairs out of this world. We will not be able to return to the land of mental peace that we have lost forever. Only Clonazepam is going to be real in our interactive domain.
Engines were invented, and humans started reaping the benefits. With the help of engines, humans started making their lives more comfortable and easier. Serendipity began to reign supreme. Every invention is a serendipitous outcome. Although the research was designed to develop something new, the results did not always match the initial plans. X-rays, dynamite, penicillin, and smallpox vaccines exemplify serendipity's fortune.
When speeding vehicles get totalled killing passengers, we question the responsibility of the drivers. But we fail to see that the availability of the highest speed is inherently destructive. We want to brag about the time reduction but do nothing to reduce the speed limit in the vehicles. If vehicles' maximum speed is 50-60 kilometers, then the frequency of accidents is expected to be minimized. Gaining speed is not cool but pregnant with the possibility of accidents. The Titanic sank with the passengers to prove that accidents always lurk in those areas where less attention is paid. The ship's construction based on prior ideas was greeted with excitement and smug satisfaction. People learn that mathematical calculations can only project a hypothetical reality. No preparation is enough to eschew unwanted consequences.
The discovery of fire was a serendipitous occasion. It was not pre-planned by early humans that fire would be produced. There is no denying that fire has made our lives easier. From cooking to warding off wild animals and heating the abode its contribution is immense. Yet it is another reason for accidents. The gutted building on Bailey Road reminds us of what unregulated fire can do to both animate and inanimate objects. Once a buzzing area now stands as a haunted structure. Highly inflammable interior design materials produced huge smoke when the fire burnt them. Most of the victims died of suffocation from hot and toxic smoke.
California conflagration was a time bomb that waited for suitable conditions to explode. Global warming-induced catastrophes lay bare the fragile bones of invincible humans. The red layer of Phos-Chek tries to cover human hypocrisies and pretensions. Looting leaves its hideout to manifest the rickety distribution system in society. Anticipated accidents become bigger due to human nonchalance towards environment-friendly conditions. Humans continue with their routine of producing harmful gases and chemicals for the biomes. The selfish slumber will take a heavy toll on our lives in the upcoming days.
Columbus encountered serendipitous possibilities when he came across a new piece of land instead of India. He helped certain vegetable items become available in Europe and other continents. By contrast, it was a nightmarish accident for the Native Americans. In 2020 disgruntled protesters tore down the statue of Columbus in Baltimore, which was rebuilt afterward. Their valid grudge against Columbus is still alive. They rightfully proclaim that he did not discover America because the natives were already living there. They also castigate the use of Americans as their identity because of its connection with Amerigo Vespucci. In Bangladesh, during the July uprising, two protesters fell in love and got married in a serendipitous emotional journey. They did not expect to meet and tie the knot from the most improbable place. But it transpired that way. Similarly, my tryst with Anthropology as a major was a serendipitous decision. It came to me as a sudden option to select as my future career. And in modern consumerism, we remain surrounded by accidents while waiting for serendipities.
The writer is a faculty member of the Anthropology Programme at Independent University Bangladesh
