alchemy

fire: the first evidence of alchemy?

Alchemy: science, magic, art - or all 3?

Alchemy is science because it involves a basic relationship to inquiry and experimentation. If I take A and combine it with B, something will happen. It irepresents a process of curiosity and discovery. It is requires mystery or a certain suspension of disbelief or rational, which is magic. Finally, to approach the process requires a spirit of imagination to think beyond what is known long enough for curiosity to curate a moment of willing exploration into what is unknown, which is art.

Comments on discussion:

Truthfully, I remember very little from the class discussion other than the fog that seemed to permeate each of our brains. In retracing articles shared from last week’s class, I revisited “Modern Alchemy and the Quest for ‘Cheapium’.” I cringed at the notion of automating discovery; to dilute the process of inquisition, of exploration, of imagination so that what is “new” is known without conscious, active engagement is to ignore the curiosity that defines the spirit.