blog 2

After reading chapter 4, drinking a glass of water seemed the most proper thing to do. Throughout this chapter, I could not stop thinking about the first philosopher of Greek tradition, Thales. Early philosophers were in fact not even called philosophers, but more adequately, scientists. The point of early philosophy was to demystify nature, and Thales is the quintessential example of this. He believed the most important principle in the universe was water. He observed that everything that existed could be broken down into this element: beyond the tree is the seed, beyond the seed is the water contained within the seed itself. I think if Thales himself were aware of Beneveniste’s discovery of “the memory of water,” he would not have been the slightest bit surprised.

This concept of “the memory of water” is a strikingly unique concept. The experiments conducted by Beneveniste and his team provokes an enormous, if not infinite, amount of possibilities, “if water were able to imprint and store information from molecules, this would have an impact on our understanding of molecules and how they ‘talk’ to one another in our bodies, as molecules in human cells, of course, are surrounded by water. In any living cell, there are ten thousand molecules of water for each molecule of protein.” [63] Homeopathic medicine is a concept that I have had no prior knowledge on, but upon reading this chapter, my interest has peaked for further investigation. From my gathering of the text, if we were able to unite the memory of water to the dilution and succession period, would it be possible to create an infinite reservoir of antibiotics and other medicinal shortages? For example, if we can essential “impregnate” water molecules with solution and success it, and then remove the original solution, could we theoretically “clone” active ingredients and provide an unlimited supply? If this is the case, we will never read in the New York Times about our annual flu shot shortage again.

Another thing this chapter made me remember was a segment I heard on NPR radio a year or so ago. I remember hearing about a recent experiment in which a group of scientists had successfully recorded a brief musical passage onto a strand of human DNA. I tried to find references to this experiment on the Internet, but to my dismay, I came out empty handed. I really doubt that I dreamt this incident, but at the same time, I was in the altered state of consciousness known as morning fog, so it is possible that I heard it incorrectly. But if the finest strands of human existence can act as a form of memory and communication, the enormous percentage of our body that consists of nothing but water (and possibly memory enhanced water) may issue critical concern and debate. Water may not in turn be nothingness at all, but rather dew that resides on cobwebs.