Last night, the skies above the world's great cities exploded into colour. From Delhi to Dubai, London to New York, fireworks were hurled into the air to celebrate DiwaliA five-day festival. It celebrates different events in the history of each of the participating religions..

Nicknamed the "festival of light", Diwali is shared by Hindus, Sikhs, JainsFollowers of Jainism, an ancient Indian religion whose followers live a life of non-violence and non-attachment to worldly possessions. and some Buddhists. PyrotechnicsThe craft of creating and using fireworks and other similar devices. The word is sometimes used to stand in for fireworks. is a common feature. In India alone, approximately ₹50 billion (£495m) is spent on fireworks each year.

This week, for the first time since 2018, Diwali's biggest evening occurred the day before Britain's Bonfire NightAn annual commemoration of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot that attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. By the end of the 17th Century, fireworks were a common feature.. This adds another £500m of fireworks to the equation.

Fireworks are popular almost everywhere. An eye-watering amount of money changes hands for them. The US alone spent a record $2bn in 2020 on some 15,600 fireworks.

Few would argue that this is the most useful way to spend this money. $2bn could get you 100m doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. Earlier this week, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was praised for pledging $2bn to prevent climate crisis. 

Shooting fireworks does nothing for the crises facing humans - indeed, as images of Delhi after Diwali show, it actively pollutes. Yet we continue to buy them, quite literally burning money in the process. 

In this we follow our ancestors. The earliest known fireworks date from about 800 AD. Chinese alchemists used them to scare away evil spirits. They were later used as weapons.

In 1295,  Marco PoloVenetian Explorer (1254 - 1324) who travelled from Italy to East Asia and back. His account of his travels gave Europeans their first accurate look at the culture of many Asian countries. brought fireworks back to Europe, where they became immensely popular as a centrepiece of lavish entertainments such as the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Russian tsar Peter the GreatModernising Russian tsar (1672 - 1725). As well as fireworks, Peter was fond of fountains and cruel practical jokes, sometimes in combination. was moved to say: "My great passions are navigation and fireworks." They remain key to big celebrations today, from US Independence Day to Olympics opening ceremonies.

Some of humanity's greatest achievements are characterised by similar excess. If the Mughal emperorThe Mughal Empire ruled much of present-day India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh between the 16th and 19th Centuries.  Shah Jahan had exercised restraint and built his wife a conventional tomb, we would not have the Taj Mahal. Medieval cathedrals shine through their artistic magnificence. 

No one has any need for opera, with its lavish combination of singing, music, acting, staging, costume and dance. But a world without opera would be a much duller one.

In King Lear, Shakespeare's doomed protagonist says: "Allow not nature more than nature needs, / Man's life's as cheap as beast's." We are nothing more than animals if we only live for life's essentials. It is the pleasures, however big or small, which make life worth living.

Some philosophers offer support for this view. Ethical hedonists believe that we should seek pleasure at all times. If a firework display brings more joy to people than a vaccine, set the sky on fire. A long and healthy but asceticSomeone who absents themselves from worldly pleasures.  life is nothing to one that burns brightly.

Not everyone agrees. A glittering garment or a firework display might give people a moment of joy. But for those facing hardships, it is a mere distraction. Ending the pain that stands in the way of pleasure should come first.

Yes, some insist. The ancient physician Hippocrates wrote that: "Everything in excess is opposed to nature". He was referring to the human body. But his idea is a manta to live by. Extravagances are unnatural and unbalance us. And nothing could be more extravagant than the momentary thrill of fireworks.

No, claim others. Greek philosopher Aristippus of Cyrene argued that pleasure was the highest form of truth. We access our strongest feelings and finest thoughts when confronted with great beauty. And few things can arouse such happiness in us as much as the astounding thrill of pyrotechnics.