SUO: Life history of a rock
In many discussions, a rock is used as a typical example of an inert
physical object. Even though we are aware that rocks, like all other
objects, consist of vibrating molecules, those molecules tend to be
locked into position in crystals, which are stable for long periods
of time.
But new techniques for dating the age of tiny samples of rocks
makes it possible to get evidence of how the rock has evolved over
time. Following is a quotation from an article, in which geologists
talk about the "lifespan" or "life history" of a rock.
Examples like this illusrate my point that a process-based ontology
must be considered even for the most stable objects in our ordinary
environment. If rocks have a "life history", even when considered
as members of our "mid-world" or "mesoscopic" view of things, then
there is further evidence that the process ontology is all pervasive.
The "object" view is an important, but secondarary view that
characterizes certain aspects of processes for certain purposes.
It is possible to have both processes and objects in an ontology,
but the processes are the more fundamental. Objects are "aspects"
of processes that happen to be relatively stable over some period
of time that is of interest to some observer for some purpose.
Bottom line: As Whitehead maintained, processes are the ultimate
constituents of the world, and "objects" are "permanences amidst
the flux" that are characterized by certain "forms of definiteness".
Note: This is not a position that makes truth relative to an observer.
Those "aspects" are objectively observable to anyone who chooses to
look at the same things from the same viewpoint. Every observation
or measurement is public knowledge that can be repeated by different
experimenters under the same conditions to obtain the same results.
John Sowa
_________________________________________________________________________
“Looking at the entire lifespan of a sample, rather than just
tagging it with an average age, is critical,” said Williams.
“It’s the difference between having a single snapshot, or a
lengthy, detailed videotape of a series of events. We don’t
want to know just where and when a rock was formed, but
also when and where it was buried, deformed, heated,
melted, and eventually exhumed to the Earth’s surface. We
want to determine the life history of each rock and then
combine these histories to understand the geologic history
of a region of the Earth.”
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010808134545.htm
This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the
University Of Massachusetts At Amherst for journalists and other
members of the public. If you wish to quote from any part of this story,
please credit University Of Massachusetts At Amherst as the original
source.