It is a fascinating, and a little sobering, realization that we live in a bottle garden.
True, there is the occasional meteorite that adds to the collective mass of the planet and the occasional satellite leaves it but, by and large, we are a closed system.
Anything that is here now, was here then.
Conservation of mass.
Each and every one of us contains atoms that have previously participated in the make up of dinosaurs, ancient forests, Neanderthal man, woolly mamoths and the earliest plankton.
Every time we breathe, we inhale atoms of nitrogen and oxygen that were also inhaled by Caesar, Michaelangelo, Machiavelli, Hitler and Jesus.
It is, if you like, a giant Lego set. People, animals and plants are being constantly constructed and deconstructed from the same set of parts.
Quite amazing when you think about it.
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mmm, and we really should not fear our own death, coz we know we'll be back again, yes?
ReplyDeleteConsciousness of the atom.
ReplyDeleteYes.
ReplyDeleteDo you mean that my Pinot Noir was once mammoth slobber? Not happy.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting topic, me and B was talking about it the other night too, I wonder if a lot of others can actually get their heads around this too, they seem not to 'get it'.
ReplyDeleteMy worry is this ... we sent so many signals into space saying 'Here we are!' It's a worry to think "I wonder what or whom will find us" LOL.
well said.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'll imagine that all day.