We are all aware that water is essential to all animal and plant life on Earth. Life is believed to have originated in water and living organisms depend on water for survival.
For example, plants use water in photosynthesis to make food for themselves. Whereas, roughly 60% of the adult human body is water and it performs many functions. They include dissolving vital nutrients in the bloodstream and delivering them to cells, regulating body temperature, dissolving waste substances, protecting tissues, joints, and the spinal cord, etc.
In the modern human world, water is an important resource with many uses including food production, cleaning, transportation, power generation, recreation, and more.
So what is water, really?
There is an ambiguity in the use of the term “water” which is important to be clear about. At some point in our history, when we named water, we did not have a complete understanding of the kind of thing the water was. We merely attached the kind term “water” to the substance that was in front of us.
If we delve deeper and try to understand, we find that water exists as molecules. Each molecule is a combination of two hydrogen atoms joined to an oxygen atom. This makes the chemical formula of water H₂O. But, the problem with claiming that water is H₂O assumes that the ordinary language kind of water corresponds to a chemical kind. It assumes that the latter contains all the molecules with the molecular formula H₂O as its members.
The discussion of chemical kinds by laymen has been rather badly oversimplified, hiding difficulties that arise when we try to coordinate the actual reality of water with the popular belief (H₂O and “Pure Water”) as recognized by ordinary people.
Substance kinds are identified by microscopic structure. – Putnam
All water here on earth is composed entirely of certain microorganisms”. Even if it was possible to remove certain microorganisms from water, every sample of the water will contain at least some constituents other than H₂O molecules — that includes “foreign” ions, dust, tiny bits of plastic, etc.
This finding by science daily says: “nearly every body of water contains microscopic organisms that live attached to rocks, plants, and animals. These sessile suspension feeders are important to aquatic ecosystems. They play an important role in cleaning up environmental contaminants by consuming bacteria.”
Despite that, if any human being wonders whether chemists can create “pure water”, well, the truth is, even chemists can’t do that.
Pure Water Does not Exist!!!
This so-called pure water is very important to people. Bottled water brands put the word “pure” before “water” in their advertisements. The reality is, though: Pure water doesn’t exist.
All hydrogen contains a mixture of isotopes, if we do the elemental analysis of natural water we would find a fraction of deuterium mixed with hydrogen-1.
Likewise, terrestrial water contains trace amounts of tritium because of the trace amounts of tritium found on Earth. Looking at enough samples of water, we will find H2 17O, H2 18O, HD16O, D2 17O, T2 18O, etc., in addition to H2 16O. As a matter of fact, natural water almost always contains a mixture of these other isomers. This proves that pure water is a myth.
The problem lies not in the paradoxical properties of water, rather in how we understand it.
The scientific method till now has been trying to isolate, dissect, and understand the substances instead of holistically understanding them. The basic premise of science that “other things remain constant” is not possible in real-world scenarios. That is the simple reason for every new scientific discovery refuting and reversing the earlier understanding that we had of any laws.
Existence is coexistence. Everything in this universe exists in relation and in connection to other things. No substance has any reality or existence of its own independent of other things.
The above case study of water proves that nothing exists in isolation as a pure substance in itself without other elements.
In order to understand the complete reality, every substance, every idea needs to be understood holistically. Studying something independently means separating it from the rest of existence, which is not possible.
To Sum Up
Popular Belief: Substances should be studied by isolating them from other things.
Existential Reality Check: Everything is essentially interconnected, this is the ultimate truth of existence. Every independent unit in this existence is ‘whole’ in itself as well as a ‘part’ of a greater ‘whole’. Once this holistic perception is attained by science, humanity will progress in the direction of existential human purpose and not waste time on impractical inventions.
The truth of this existence can only be known through the holistic view or the total picture of reality as it exists. Thanks to the language and rapid growth in means of communication and to the efforts of human beings, we are close to getting the total picture.
Once this total picture is added to education, the reality will be transferred to the entire human generation. From then on, no confusion will remain about human life, human purpose, happiness, and this existence.
