Starling murmuration
When many objects look like one
There are many examples of multiple objects blending into one image when motion is added. The hub of a car’s wheel looks as a flat disc rather than individual spokes; the individual ferris wheel gondolas and spokes look like colored circles; the ribbons of a maypole are a vista of color as the children run around the pole.
Or a flock of starlings looking like a smooth wave across the sky. Or seeing the waves of color from a folk dance festival viewed from afar. Or passing over a carpet of tulips in a plane. Or as in the header image: A road of ants.
Elements that are very close together in space or time will blur into an impression of an uninterrupted sensation. All our senses (smell, touch, hearing, sight, taste) have a limit on distinguishing two objects that are very close to each other in time, space, or trait.
This is the concept of "when many look like one".
When one object looks like many
Conversely, as things- particularly small things - become faster, they take on distinct and unexpected characteristics. They adopt the attributes of larger and more substantial objects.
In this module, I give the example of one ant forming a floor of ants because of the ant's ability to be in multiple places at the same time - in our real-world timeframe.
This is the concept of: "When one looks like many"!
Metronome
One electron acts as if it were many
Those two concepts --> apply to atoms/molecules and electrons.
- seeing many as one: seeing a continuously moving grouping of zillions of molecules as immobile (for example, a glass of water)
- seeing one as many: one electron creating a 3-dimensional electron cloud
Our reality will change depending on our size and the speed with which we move. Basically, electrons through their fastness in confined structures create a solid reality.
In the next module, I will continue to explore how one electron can act as if it were a grouping of a sphere of electrons in our real-world time frame, with reference to the hydrogen atom's s-orbital.
Picture credits:
- Ferris wheel at night. Photo by Jayson Hinrichsen on Unsplash.
- Adam. A murmuration of starlings, At Gretna, taken on Nov 21, 2010.
- Cheng Sun. metronome, taken on Jan 24, 2014.
- Rene Mensen. Double reflection, Taken on March 9, 2014.