I have, as a strong member of the virtual world, believed in a large gap
between Real Life (RL) and Virtual Reality (VR). The two should never mix,
as I believe I may have explained in another, separate article many moons
ago. However, a few things must sadly permeate the layers of shielding
between both realities, and enter our virtual existence on h2g2. No doubt
you now know what I'm getting at: the terrorist attacks on the World Trade
Centre.

There are, admittedly, a very small number of incidents that can really
bring my usually jovial mood down, but the recent transpiring events have
pulled me under the surface, and I have sunk to a very low ebb. Thusly, I am
sorry to say that the tenth edition of Ask Prof will not be as humorous as I
believe it typically is, and will instead be committed to my speculative
views on the incidents of the past two days. No questions will be answered
this week, so I apologise beforehand. Prior to commencing my main texts
though, might I recommend the reading of two very fine columns that may also
have many a word expressing views on the same occasions? There is everyone's
favourite news column, Notes from a Small Planet¹ , and the new column of my
good friend MaW, who started writing last week. Do take a look if you get
bored of my ramblings.

Now then, a quick recap of events. Four aeroplanes were hijacked
yesterday by terrorists armed with knives and, some reports suggest, small
bombs. Two of the planes were sent to the famous twin towers of the World
Trade Centre in New York, crashing into them in the space of a few minutes.
Another plane headed towards Washington, seemingly targeting the White
House, but crashed into one side of the Pentagon. A fourth plane was routed
to Pennsylvania but missed its target and was obliterated on the ground. Not
too long later, the twin towers, unable to cope for too long with the force
of the impacts and the damage taken, crumbled into nothing, releasing plumes
of smoke and ash on an already devastated New York City.

Many, many lives were lost in this. Reports are still coming in, and no
one can be sure as to exactly how many were killed. Certainly in the
thousands. We must also face the reality that there were passengers in the
four planes that crashed. In addition to this, a very large number of
service crew - firemen and police mainly - were seemingly buried under the
towers, collapsing while they tried to help those who were trapped above the
flames of the crash sites.

I myself - and do remember that I am, perhaps out of character, speaking
from RL - first heard of the news on my way home from college. I was in the
city of Winchester, on my way to the bus stop, when I saw a crowd of people
gathered round a TV shop. I naturally thought they must have been watching a
football game. However, inquisitive as I am, I headed over to them to have a
look. What greeted me was the sight of a burning tower on the TV screen. The
BBC News was on, and the 'Break News' box at the bottom of the screen said
something about a terrorist attack on some buildings. I honestly had no idea
what had happened. Needless to say, when I got home the entire series of
events was explained to me. And yet - and I'm sure many others will nod
their heads on admittance to similar feelings - the true magnitude, the
sheer number of lives affected and indeed lost due to this occurrence, has
not yet found a place on my orderly shelf of facts in my brain.

Soon, the speeches started appearing. Countries all over the world were
expressing sympathy and regret for America's position, and pledging help and
support to those who needed it. Blair here in the UK made his own statements
about it, saying we'd stand shoulder to shoulder with the US. Bush tried
very hard to come up with a few decent speeches (and not truly succeeding,
using the term 'folks' to name the unconfirmed terrorists), but I'm quite
sure that even he was sensible enough to understand the impact these events
would have on his country.

At first glance, all we see is disaster. Lives and loves lost, total
carnage, the realisation that the USA is not as safe as once thought, the
disorganisation of the government due to the evacuations, the economic
impact the destruction of the World Trade Centre would have on the world,
and the immediate tensions between certain countries. Understandably, some
people are already predicting the end of the world as we know it. In fact
all the newspapers were saying similarly dramatic things, perhaps going a
bit too far in one headline mentioning an apocalypse. However, in the light
of such destruction, we can only speculate.

Curiously enough, not many people have touched on the nuclear angle this
all presents. The prospect of nuclear war was always a big topic, but it
has, to everyone's relief, slipped out of interest in response to
yesterday's attacks. But the facts cannot be forgotten: America is a strong
country, and their response could be fatal for many. As many doomsayers of
the 'mutually assured destruction' principal have contemplated on, a missile
from the US could trigger another from some country allied with the US's
enemy, and that another, and another. Good news is coming to the forefront
though.

While all the evil deeds have put evil and possibly dangerously
frightening thoughts in the minds of millions, the better points of this
incident cannot be ignored. Listen carefully to everyone who's been on the
TV about this, and you'll notice that they continually state that it was not
an attack on America, but an attack on all countries who value freedom and
democracy, on all the civilised world. Now, I'm British, and I won't deny
that some slightly stereotypical caricatures float through my head at the
thought of some famous Americans (though the vast majority of Americans I
know, all from h2g2, are not like this). In many people's opinion, the US
government is making some very rational decisions here.

While an awful lot of speculation was going around about immediate
retaliation if ever something like this happened - leading us back into the
mutually assured destruction scenario - no such thing has been forthcoming.
And I don't just believe that it's the fact that there isn't really anyone
to point a finger at (because there are a few individuals), but that America
are taking things one step at a time. The first thing they and a multitude
of other countries did was to place a higher level of security all over the
lands. Planes were grounded or ordered back over the seas, airports were
closed, and security forces deployed to make sure that the situation would
not worsen. As a second step, immediate investigations were launched, with
the sole aim to find out exactly who caused this atrocity to occur. I have
no fears that attacks will be launched without serious consideration of the
implications and possible errors in calculation.

Additionally to this, good things are beginning to happen, however
dampened down in significance by the main events themselves. Evidence of the
passengers aboard the hijacked planes attempting to phone the outside world
has been appearing all over the place, only helping to piece together the
mystery of the unnamed terrorists. Furthermore, survivors are being found in
the ruin of the WTC - all hope is not lost on that front therefore. And
beyond the immediate thought of war, a number of hopeful opportunities can
be seen.

Take for example the sudden sending of sympathies to America from other
countries. Never before has the world come together in such a way over an
event. Somewhere on this planet the evildoers are not going to be a part of
this, but the rest of this Earth appears strong, as one pulled together to
combat this malevolence. Is there at last the possibility of stronger ties
between countries? Is it possible that, once this horrible mess is dealt
with, the world could become a good and happy place, at least for the most
part? As I said, this is merely speculation, and very hopeful speculation at
that. At least we can be glad that the USA will play a bigger part in the
rest of the world now, after the unfortunate shock of knowing they are not
in fact unreachable. (And I don't mean that in a bad way. I'm just repeating
the overall feeling everyone's getting.)

Let us get through this without hurting any more innocent people. Enough
have suffered already, but revenge must be taken upon those who perpetrated
this crime - as long as those who do not follow the guilty leadership, or
those who are too blind to realise the truth and therefore follow anyone,
are not killed simply to balance losses. Let us not rush headlong into
thorough conflict without first considering the consequences, something we
could never do in the first and second of the great wars.

And so I end this week's column. I am truly sorry that the tenth issue of
Ask Prof should greet you with such sorrow, but, as I said, some things
cannot be ignored and left for just the Real Life to cope with. I am also
sorry for the lack of letters answered this week, though I have at least two
now. Normal services will be resumed next week. Again.

Yours expressing sympathy to those whose lives this has
affected,

- Professor Christopher Tonks

Minister for Science & Technology for the Alabaster House

GalaGroup Overseer to San Beta
E-mail


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