What’s That Made Out Of?
Ian is a reductionist. He wants to know what everything is made out of. Any of a number of recent conversations go like this:
Ian asks, “What’s that car made out of?”
I reply “Steel and plastic and rubber and things.”
“What’s steel made out of?”
“Molecules.”
“What are molecules made out of?”
“Atoms.”
“What are atoms made out of?”
“Protons, neutrons, and electrons.”
“What are protons, lupons, and flecktrons made out of?”
“Quarks and leptons.”
“What are those made out of?”
“Superstrings.”
“What are superstrings made out of?”
“Energy.”
“What is energy made out of?”
“Energy is made out of Energy, Ian. You’ve bottomed out.”
“But what is energy made out of?!?’”
“It’s not made out of anything. It just is.”
“Oh.”
I can’t wait until we get to spacetime.
