I never thought that having a little toddler at home would be to have a teacher giving me lessons in metaphysics, or a zen monk introducing a koan to me. That is one of the things I appreciate most about being a father, the constant need to challenge habits and old patterns of thought which normally would need a big wack to be taken up for reconsideration, but where a little comment from a two year old boy is more than enough to shake my world.
Having a background in physics, a black hole is a well known concept to me. Being a student of the mysteries in life, the black hole is a focus for wonder. And now, being a father, the black hole has finally become it’s metaphysical counterpart. My son and I were playing with his little wooden toy shapes. He has a blue, a red, and a wooden colored ring that he suddenly stopped playing with and instead started to look at with curious eyes. He picked up the red ring and pointed at it, looking at me saying red hole. And then he turned to the blue one, saying blue hole. And I found myself suddenly feeling sucked out in space, towards the closest black hole we know about, wondering how in the world can this hole be called black.
Looking at his little wooden toy, seeing the hole surrounded by wood painted red, I found myself starting to think about the whole concept of holes and their attributes. The hole in his toy is basically empty space surrounded by matter, and giving that void a color, is that something that is possible? Well, of course it is possible, but should it be done? And if we do such an assignation, should we think of the color as the color of the surrounding matter, or is it a moving target, a shape shifter describing what we see when we look through the hole, when we see what shines through (or not shines through at all as is the case with the black hole)?
As so many times since our son was born, he once again has managed to make me question the fabrics of existence. Is the black hole black because no light can get out of it? Is the black hole the portal that transports the physical science into the metaphysical realm? Or is the black hole simply an illusion? I think I need to consult with my son.
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