Ask an ancient philosopher: What is the world made of? Today: Thales of Miletus

This question seems banal at first. What should the world be made of? Of course, many stars and planets and cosmic energy. We all learned that at school.
But even if we have a theory about how matter is constructed, that does not mean that we know the true composition of the world.

This question is as old as humankind, and since time immemorial people are wondering what the world is made of.

An ancient idea dating back to the Greeks is the system of four elements: earth, water, fire and air. Of course, this is based purely on the experience of what man can perceive with his senses.
And yet, people were always suspicious that the perceptible level was not the only one, they always guessed that gods had their hand in the game.

One of the great philosophers, Thales of Miletus, counters this thinking.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thales_of_Miletus

Instead of many complicated mythological explanations, Thales concluded that there must be a primitive substance that can take any shape, is important to life, and that is capable of transformation.
He concludes that everything is water.

(www.pixabay.com)

A very remarkable conclusion, even from today's point of view.
This makes Thales one of the first founders of scientific thinking.

Today we are a few steps ahead and know that of course not everything is made of water.

On the other hand, we also know how important water is to us and that a life without water is probably not possible.
If you look at the amount of water on our planet, it would not have earned the name earth, but water.