Anne and I were standing at the edge of some tidepools, watching tiny fish swim around in them.
“They look just like little versions of the fish we see on the reef,” I said.
“I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what they are,” Anne replied. A wave crashed against the rocks nearby, and the water near our feet gently rose a few inches. As the tide ran out, it created a small current between two tide pools, drawing some new fish into the one we were watching. They swam around together, like they’d always been there.
“You know how I like to think about nature being really simple?” I said, “like how it just repeats little things over and over again to make bigger, more complex things?”
“Like when you talk about fractals?” She said. Another wave hit the rocks, splashing brilliant white foam into the air.
“Yeah, sort of, ” I said. “So let’s look at these tide pools, and consider that the fish who live in them have no idea that, just a short distance away, is the entire ocean, and it’s filled with giant versions of themselves.”
“It’s not necessarily a short distance for them,” she added.
“Dammit. You’re right. That messes this up a little bit, but go with me for a second.” I put my hand into the water and the fish darted away. “These fish may not even know about the fish one tidepool over, separated by a few inches of rocks, unless the tide pushes or pulls them there.
“So. Imagine that we are in this tidepool, and we have no idea that there’s a huge ocean just a short distance away. Or imagine that something is looking at us in this tidepool, and we have no way at all to even perceive that they are there.”
“Woah.”
“Right? And the tidepool can’t exist without the ocean, and the tides can’t exist without the moon, and the moon can’t exist without the Earth, and the Earth can’t exist without the solar system…”
She looked at me, and I trailed off.
“I’m just saying, I think it would be neat if we humans could get out of our tidepool, someday. I’d like to see what’s on the other side of the rocks.”
She clasped my hand in hers. “Let’s go for a swim,” she said.
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Things like this are why you are one of my parasocial best friends.
Horton.
Consider the frogs who live in bromeliads (tropical plants that fill with water). It’s a similar idea.
Aww, that’s so sweet.
Mind. Blown.
Wow do I ever enjoy reading your writing. Lovely.
Interesting thought, Carl Sagan had the same thought as well.
I agree very sweet. Thanks for sharing that little bit into your day.:-)
It must be so neat to be with someone who totally gets you!
I’m travelling this weekend to another state. The older I get the less I like to travel. I guess I’m comfortable in my tidepool.
Check out a song by Rush called Natural Science. It’s about tidal pools too, and other things.
Sweet!
I wasn’t the only one that thought about this song upon reading about the Tide Pools. :+)
Awesome song.
“Science, like Nature, must also be tamed…”
I admire the simplicity and honesty in your writing. I also admire Anne, she’s got to be a remarkable woman. Please keep writing & sharing your thoughts.
Not a new idea, but poetically written. Thanks for making me smile. 🙂
My mind went to the small fish and i started try and look at a different universe. We ARE the fish in a bowl and we are someone’s toys to push and pull around.
Strangely fitting, though terribly cliche, I had the Star Trek xylophone and trumpet/clarinet intro go through my mind when reading your final thought and Anne’s response. Kind of like during Spock’s final thoughts on reporting back before decommission at the end of VI. It does sometimes feel as though answers that seem light years away, are truly simply waiting around the corner. I’m with you, just let me grab some flippers…
Duuuude!
I’m very much looking forward to the movie you are going to make someday, or tv series or book or play…. yeah, please make it a movie, I’d like to watch one that really ment something to me again
And imagine if when we get out of our tidepool, Wil Wheaton is the helmsman.
Ah! So that’s why my American wife didn’t know what a rock pool was — she would call them tidepools.
Deep thoughts Wil. I think we more likely will be thrown over the rocks out into space by a marauding alien race. As things stand, we still have our heads up our asses, makes it hard to seek the stars that way
you a a philosopher
For that one fraction of a second, you were open to options you had never considered. That is the exploration that awaits you. Not mapping stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence…
I’m thinking about those big fish in the ocean that are waiting to eat those little ones. Maybe that’s why they stay there. Yes, I’m trying to be conducive with the metaphor. So are the little fish that get eaten being naive? Over confident? Or maybe, they were just willing to risk it all per chance to experience something more complex than a puddle in some rocks.
Yes.
Can you write for “Under the Dome” instead of the 12 year-olds they have now?
Seconded.
Makes for a good read as always, thanks for sharing Wil.
If you haven’t read the series yet, The Bromeliad Trilogy (Truckers, Diggers and Wings) by Terry Pratchett touches heavily on this theme.The books are definitely written for a younger audience, but I enjoyed them immensely when I read them to my son when he was in elementary school.
And, that is kinda the plot of this classic story.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_Tension_(short_story)
“What if C-A-T really spelled…Dog?”-Ogre, Revenge of the Nerds 2 😉
Hey Wil, great writing! Love your style.
Have you seen the 1977 video “the power of Ten” by Charles and Ray Eames? I think you would like it.
The part about small differences, in this case separation from nearby waters, leading to life-altering outcomes reminds me of Amanda Palmer’s emotional song “Trout Heart Replica” and also the German film “Lola Rennt” (“Run Lola Run” is the English version with subtitles – has a great soundtrack, too).
Nice