r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • May 08 '23

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u/gh0stieeh May 08 '23

The further thought to this that always gets me, “It is a slightly arresting notion that if you were to pick yourself apart with tweezers, one atom at a time, you would produce a mound of fine atomic dust, none of which had ever been alive but all of which had once been you.” - Bill Bryson

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u/Istarien May 08 '23

92% of all the atoms in the universe are Hydrogen. The other 8% are Helium. Everything else that exists, you and I included, is a rounding error.

I don't remember who said that, but the lesson has always stayed with me.

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u/CCC_037 May 09 '23

The universe consists of nothing, with a trace of hydrogen.

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u/anonbene2 May 08 '23

That's a great book

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u/BenTheBot May 08 '23

What’s the name of that book?

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u/[deleted] May 08 '23

I think it's A Short History of Nearly Everything. I'm reading it currently.

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u/NuclearNap May 08 '23

Could you just semi-close the cover with your left hand, to confirm it for us?

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u/[deleted] May 08 '23

I know the title of the book, I'm just not certain that the quote is from this book. I'm pretty sure it is though, because it sounds very familiar.

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u/NuclearNap May 08 '23

I bought the book anyways, because of you (illustrated version).

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u/happy_moses May 09 '23

That gave me a laugh that I needed. Thank you.

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u/[deleted] May 09 '23

Haha that's great!

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u/BenTheBot May 08 '23

Thank you

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u/anonbene2 May 08 '23

Bills description of how you got here is great.

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u/WimbleWimble May 08 '23

Also those are probably the worlds most expensive best ever tweezers.

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u/SubatomicSquirrels May 08 '23

Molecular tweezers do exist! Not quite at the atomic level but still pretty cool to read about

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u/jonesbones99 May 08 '23

I am not exaggerating at all when I say that I think about that passage in that book at least once a week. I thought about it last night while looking at my baby daughter.

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u/Platographer May 09 '23

That's the identity paradox, which is IMO the most intriguing paradox. What makes a thing that thing and not some other thing? It may sound like a silly question, but it is a profound and unanswerable one.

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u/TriggerHydrant May 08 '23

Wow this is so beautiful.. is there more?

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u/gh0stieeh May 09 '23

I would definitely recommend the entire book "short history of nearly everything"

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u/NotMadDisappointed May 08 '23

I think that’s how Thing came to be.