As I walked early this morning on the peaceful tree lined streets of my 1960's neighborhood, I thought about the difficulty in knowing anything about our reality with certainty. Looking around, I tried to find some anchor that would help me reconcile my paranormal experiences to the everyday physical world.
I look at the rust on a sign pole. I know the steel of the pole to be strong without needing to test it, in spite of the minor decay. I understand the oxidization that creates the rust. It is a regular and predictable process. The rust is a simple material component of the tangible world. A mundane counterpoint to my esoteric thoughts, with no real bearing on my life or my musings. Or is it?
The Nature of Matter
Are the literal nuts and bolts of this sign the only basis of reality, or is the material world an illusion? Does the rust really exist or only my perception of it? If my reality is determined by my perceptions or observations, why would I bother to perceive the rust when I would prefer a more uniform finish?
Letting this muddle stew a while in the back of my mind, I decided to learn a little more about the rust that so rudely defaces this once proud symbol of civilization and progress.
Properties of Iron
Iron is a relatively abundant element in the universe. The sun and many types of stars contain iron in quantity. The Earth's molten core is thought to be composed mainly of iron. This core is believed to be the source of Earth's magnetic field, which protects our atmosphere from radiation that would destroy it, and incidentally us.
The magnetism of the iron group of metals is a rare and remarkable property. It is not due to any inherent magnetic propensities of the atoms, but to the structure of the metal.
Upon reflection, the rust I pass every day and take for granted is in fact a demonstration of the unmatched power of elemental iron to shape and reshape our body chemistry, our technology, our art, our civilization, our planet, our atmosphere, our stars and our future. The power of this element comes not from its stability, but from its instability and its readiness to react with carbon and oxygen which are literally the core components of life.
Lessons in Humility
True alchemy is not to turn lead into gold, but to turn star dust into life and clearly iron is the catalyst that enables that to happen.
My new respect for rust causes me to reflect on the illusion that material reality is fixed and static. It only appears so due to the limited range of our basic senses, infrequent insight and short lifespans. A never ending flow of wave-particles, fields and forces compose everything around us. They just happen to produce an artifact that we call the material world.
All of the things around us are constantly changing, while we exert our greatest effort to bend even a tiny portion of matter to our will.
Clearly the universe felt I needed a lesson in humility today. Point taken.