Chasing Heraclitus

Though very few of his works have survived, the works of Heraclitus have made a significant impact on our culture. He saw the world as made out of fire- always constantly changing. One of his most famous fragments, with its varying translations, goes something like this:

"No man can ever step into the same river twice, for it's not the same river, and he's not the same man."

While this may sound like a poetic and overly romantic notion to some, it's actually one of the few ancient philosophies that translates into our modern world scientifically. While in no way do I believe Heraclitus knew about or had the capacity to analyze our biology on a cellular level 2500 years ago, I see it as a striking coincidence that the cells in our bodies are dying and being remade constantly; so much so that in (on average) about seven years, none of our biological cells are the same as they were in the seven years previous. So we could not possibly be the same EXACT humans we were even a day before, possibly even hours or minutes before, because biologically we AREN'T the same self-aware collection of cells. It blows my mind to think that I am technically the fourth full version of myself, even though I can remember quite clearly large chunks of the lives of the first three.

The "river" part of the "same river twice" statement is a bit more obvious, and is reflected in other fragments of his texts, such as "all is flux." Liquid by nature flows constantly (unless it is frozen, of course), and this effect is amplified by the mechanics of a river, flowing from one large body of water to another. The smallest parts of the river, whatever units they chose to divide it up into during the time of Heraclitus, ceaselessly reconfigure themselves, so much so that, like the undulating cells of our bodies, it would never be the same river at any point you would analyze it. I find it quite amazing that something like Chaos or Complexity theory, scientific fields only a few hundred years old, can find their patron saint in an ancient Greek philosopher that lived a few THOUSAND years ago.

However, the fact that Heraclitus's philosophies are scientifically provable wouldn't have been much of a consolation to him. It would simply confirm what he feared- that solidity was impossible, even nonexistent. That we as humans base our way of life on false security, false stability. As much as we try to predict, we can't reliably know the outcome of anything of detrimental importance, or at least things that would effect us in the long term, in a world that is in constant flux. Our lives are built on a reality of liquid fire.

Heraclitus was known as "the weeping philosopher." and is depicted as such in paintings of him by Johannes Moreelse and Hendrik ter Brugghen circa the year 1600. Given his philosophies, pondering the nature of change, one can agree that his perpetually melancholy state of mind held no mystery as to the cause.