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Trick of the Light Way back in the 17th century, Descartes, the French philosopher argued that our

senses continually deceive us. From this, he concluded that everything that we see and think is as likely to be false as it is to be true. He even questioned his own existence. However, finally, he came to the conclusion, I think, therefore I am. In other words, The fact that I can think enough to doubt my own existence, means that I do indeed exist. I am a dreamer, not a scientist or philosopher. Nevertheless, the world is forever pumping technical and scientific information and jargon into my head. This being the case, I have to try to make sense of it. In return, the deeper I delve, the more I become convinced that nothing is what it seems. I do not doubt my existence. At the same time, I am convinced that I exist as a minute part of an infinite illusion. I am not what I seem to be, neither is anybody or anything else. Because, matter, the stuff of the Universe everything we are aware of appears in our minds eye in the form of an illusion. Yes, I know that there is something there, and it appears to do what it says on the packet. Rain falls and flowers grow. Yet the rain and flowers are not what they appear to be, nor is anything else. Therefore, by my reckoning, it must all be an optical illusion: a mirage. Why do I think this? Well, by definition, all physical things, stars, seas, mountains, you, me and the gatepost, are composed of this substance called matter. The laws of physics tell us that matter is composed of atoms. In this day and age, every schoolchild knows that atoms consist of a central nucleus, the proton, surrounded by electrons. A bit vaguer maybe, is the fact that the proton is really a group of things called quarks, while electrons come under the heading of leptons. In other words, physics tells us that the building blocks of matter, atoms, are themselves built of these quarks and leptons, plus a few vaguer bits and pieces. This means that quarks and leptons constitute every physical thing that we can ever know. For good measure, scientists tell us that a strong force of gluons binds the quarks together, while an electromagnetic force measured in photons holds the electrons in place. This where the illusion kicks in. Because when we look an object, say a house or a tree, we are really looking at nothing more than a mass of atoms. And each of those individual atoms is, in turn, composed of quarks and the requisite number of leptons. There are no exceptions. So why do we think that we are looking at a house or a tree and not just a quivering mass of energy? Enter the Wizard of Light.

Light is electromagnetic radiation. Its primary source is the sun and stars, but we also produce it with lamps etc. Light radiates faster than anything in the Universe. It travels in the form of electromagnetic waves called photons, which are like the force that holds the electrons in place. These photons come streaming from their source like water from billions of trillions of hosepipes. Light waves, photons, fill the day like water fills a bath. These light waves forever have high-speed collisions with the atoms of whatever piece of matter lies in their path, be it vapour or solid. In the collisions, the atoms of these objects absorb energy from the photons and alter their wavelength and frequency. The collision modifies the light waves, which are then scattered and detected by our eyes. Our eyes transmit the modified light to our brains. Our brains assemble these light patterns into pictures and present them to our minds. In the end, the picture presented to us, the thing we see, is not the actual object that we are looking at. It is a mass of modified light waves that the object is deflecting at us. Our brains then interpret this light-code and present us with the picture. It is as if we have wondered onto a film set. We think we are walking down a street lined with houses. Yet nothing is real, it is all a facade. We see only what the film makers want us to see. On the film set, it comes as a shock when we find that, behind that magnificent frontage, there is nothing but scaffolding. Yet, in reality, real life is the same. Those mountains and stars, that pretty girl and the dog, are nothing but masses of atoms. Everything we see is a trick of the light, a facade. This is where we come to that old philosophical question; When a wave breaks in the middle of the ocean, does it make a noise? Well, surely, the answer must be... Only if there is an eardrum in the vicinity. For the breaking wave will produce sound waves, but if there is no eardrum to vibrate, and no brain to translate the vibrations, there can be no sound. In the same way, if there is no eye to perceive it, then nothing exists, save a mass of energy and modified light waves. There is nothing anywhere, except energy; it is all a mass of pulsating electromagnetic pulses. Everything we see out there is a trick of the light. Even the light itself is a mass of electromagnetic pulses. It is all very beautiful yes; but a beautiful illusion. As for Descartes and his conclusion, I think, therefore I am. Well yes, he was there all right as an illusion. But, in truth, it was his own quarks that asked the question, Do I exist? Likewise, his own leptons that gave the answer, Yes. http://www.poet-on-a-hill.blogspot.com

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