Will

A quick interlude on our will.

Will, as short words go has a host nuances. Take this short sentence: I have a (the) will to go for a walk … OK it is a bit stilted, but its meaning is clear. The word will could be replaced by any of these words:

I still have a will to go for a walk, but the different words imply different aspects … eg I have a hope to go for a walk, implies that there is something actively impairing my ability to walk. Anyway, the above list was obtained from rummaging through an on-line thesaurus for half an hour.

Now some might suggest that atoms don’t have these attributes, never mind a will. This, in some ways, is true. The other day I was thinking about atoms, in particular, copper atoms, or more technically cations, that have an affinity for sulphide anions. Or copper for sulphur in the vernacular. And it struck me that the word affinity would also fit into the list above that I had started weeks earlier. Atoms in general have a tendency (does not quite fit, above) to form full or at least stable shells/orbitals of electrons around the nucleus. They will either gain or shed electrons depending on their count of protons in the nucleus.

A little bit of abiogenesis and billions of years of evolution has imbued some life with the capability of complex thought and language. As far as we can tell this thought is driven by the complexity of the chemistry (and physics) that evolution has provided humans and perhaps other animals. And evolution in turn is driven by this affinity to form full (not always) shells around the atom’s nucleus.

So we can think of other words like love, like etc as affinities as well. Now I am not saying atoms love or like, but that a complex enough arrangement of chemicals, ions etc their affinities result in phenomena that are all too human.

I have the determination to go for a walk.