This is an autobiographical, philosophical comic I started a few years ago. everything is hand drawn on paper in a linear process.

I enjoyed creating something physical after years of doing everything on computers. The lack of undo leads to a very different sort of creative process.

What’s it about?

Some of it, I’d have admit, is me airing some emotional laundry. In some ways my entry into the world could have been easier. The narrative charts my progress from strong religious beliefs, through a faith in science and beyond.

The title refers to an idea I arrived at in my early twenties. I studied Physics at University and everything ultimately comes down to four forces of nature: gravitation, the electromagnetic force, the weak nuclear force and the strong nuclear force. My theory is that the fifth force of nature, a force which binds and drives new kinds of creation and interaction between elements in the universe, emerges from a property of the amalgamation of the other forces into ordered patterns, code, behaviours - and ultimately - life. When life evolves to intelligence and society, this fifth force emerges, a force which allows the impossible to happen and intelligent beings to cooperate with one another.

The fifth theory is trust - without trust there would only be destruction. Trust lets us take for granted the intentions of our collaborators and move forward. Without trust we would be paralysed by uncertainty - never able to truly know the thoughts and motivations of others - we would be forced to remain separate, self sufficient, impoverished, aggressive; each one of us alone. We wouldn’t last very long. Trust is a force which lets us act. For various reasons I grew up finding it difficult to trust anybody, so this conclusion is of no mean personal significance. I had to learn how to take people on their word and only by understanding this necessity as a force of nature was I able to act on it.

What happened?

I was writing this story as I joined the Ubuntu Design Team at Canonical. I guess my day job just got too intense for me to find time to work on it.

Has anything changed since then?

I’ve changed in significant ways since I started writing this story. I don’t think I could resume it in its current form. I made a little iPhone app to distribute the story as a series but never got around to publishing it.

Can it be revived?

The way I made it means I’m reluctant to take it apart and restructure it digitally. But I could remove a couple of pages instead. I suppose it could still be brought back to life as an online serial. I have no plans to do this though.

Note that my earlier finished comic What Art Is, To Me is available to read here and also available as the first iPhone App I made.