Hmm, either Xanga got a new server while I was away or sunspots are working in my favor for once.
I was thinking the other day about space and life and to some extent science fiction. I imagine most everyone’s seen a diagram of an atom at some point in their lives?
It is basically a central mass which exerts a gravitational hold over the positrons and neutrons which orbit it. In affect, the positrons and neutrons fly around the a dense nucleus like planets around a star. I’ve always wondered about that, the analogy of atom to solar system.
They say that solid matter is mostly empty space. Imagine that atoms are in fact the micro to our macro universe. When they cluster together to form mass, their different densities form galaxies within the universe that is that (so called) solid object. Pretty neat thought, eh? It would mean that you are a universe unto yourself, containing within you galaxies around which worlds revolve… some of them containing life? Gives whole new meaning to “be kind to your body” and “be careful what you eat.”
But to refer to things in a micro and macro-cosmic way is to assume that there is only a dual polarity. We have peaks and valleys, and hills and shallower valleys, and plains and empty space. We cannot assume that atoms are the micro to our macro without realizing that there are many things yet greater than us. Micro and macro is an illusion and we might be living on the positron or neutron of our own atomic solar system within a lifeform so much larger than our own that we could never make contact with it or hope for it to know that we even exist.
This got me to thinking about the Gaia Principle which posits that our planet is one superorganism, all its parts working together for their continued mutual existence. Would the earth be a macro organism subconsciously aware of the smaller lifeforms that inhabit it, or is that supposed awareness just our own hubris. Does the Earth create and maintain life for some purpose, to change its chemical and mineral makeup perhaps, or for simple adornment? Are we just inconsequential cells in a larger organism? A drop in the bucket towards an unknown transformative goal? Or is the Earth like the sloth, an animal which moves so slowly that it grows its own food on its back? The sun made the earth and the earth made us… the earth will eat us and the sun will eat the earth.
I can’t decide if my derangement is whimsical or my whimsy is deranged.
Comments (2)
I’ve noticed the atoms and solar systems are built similarly. I just thought it was one of those amazing things that should be admired. I didn’t think any further about it.
I think everything is a reflection of the universe in some way. Like that line from the Koran about even blades of grass having angels above them whispering, “Grow, grow, grow,” or in the Bible where it says God knows even the hairs on our heads–the smallest parts are all part of the larger and not to be discounted.