I was initially trying to capture that I was observing (more) directly the matter that everything is composed of without the influence of feeling-fed narrative. Though the irony is that describing it as star-dust is reintroducing narrative as in ‘stars act as a forge for the creation of heavier forms of matter via fusion, which are then spread throughout the universe and condense into planets.’ Already this is treading into scientific theory which I haven’t researched deeply.
I found an article which describes this process: “After millions of years, immense pressures and temperatures in the star’s core squeeze the nuclei of hydrogen atoms together to form helium, a process called nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion releases energy, which heats the star and prevents it from further collapsing under the force of gravity.”
Through further research I found that the idea of nuclear fusion powering stars was presented in 1920 by Arthur Eddington, and that further observations such as stellar spectra, predicted energy output, neutrinos, helioseismology, lifetime of stars, and the relative abundance of the various elements support the current theory that stars are powered by fusion and thus the matter throughout the universe passed through stars.
However, I did have a chuckle when I saw that ‘theoretical models’ were part of the evidence, and it made it apparent that the theorizing since then has also been a model (though many of the aspects of evidence above are directly observable with the right equipment).
Further, on reflection it’s apparent that part of that theory is dependent on big bang theory, as the supposition is that the universe ‘started out’ in a theorized pre-matter form, transforming into plasma and ‘elementary particles’ (which exist theoretically as well) and then which condensed into “mostly hydrogen, with some helium and lithium.”
From here, the lighter gases would eventually fuse to form the myriad of forms of matter we see today. However, with no big bang there’s no ‘beginning’ and so this chain of events doesn’t have to occur to produce that myriad of forms.
We do know that fusion occurs, it can be generated(?) in the lab (albeit for a short time), and it does produce heavier elements. But there is plenty of room for theory around the edges…
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Because of all this, I understand what you mean as far as this planet growing us as being directly observable, whereas “the sun is powered by fusion and therefore this is all stardust” is an abstraction based on a theoretical understanding. In me, it took the form of a meme - I first heard the phrase in a Moby song:
Moby ‘We Are All Made of Stars’ - Official video - YouTube
Featuring the lyrics:
People they come together
People they fall apart
No one can stop us now
'Cause we are all made of stars"
Via a Moby interview from 2002 (the same year the track was released):
“It’s a nice little New Wave song, and sort of a double-entendre. On one level, it’s uplifting and romantic, but it’s also my little take on quantum physics. I’m such a sci-fi geek. On a literal level, it’s about how we are all made of stars. Ninety-eight percent of the matter in the universe is comprised of hydrogen and helium and the other two percent are the elements of the periodic table—carbon, nitrogen, etcetera. But it’s all from the furnaces of the stars.”
The line “No one can stop us now” is interesting and I don’t really see the connection to “we are all made of stars,” is it just pop nonsense? Or are there spiritual undertones?
I found an interview with Moby wherein he mentions:
“Nothing in our experience actually exists outside of our perception of it, our cognition, so really the only thing there is… is cognition.”
That famously solipsistic argument. So that indicates somewhat his attitude toward the universe.
All in all, it’s a reminder for me of the dynamics described in one of my favorite passages of Richard’s:
“Pure perception takes place sensitively just before one starts feeling the percept – and thus thinking about it affectively – which takes place just before one’s feeling-fed mind says: ‘It’s a man’ or: ‘It’s a woman’ or: ‘It’s a steak-burger’ or: ‘It’s a tofu-burger’ … with all that is implied in this identification and the ramifications that stem from that.”
In one instant was a quite pure experience (though there was still self present) and then I ‘translated’ the experience into a form that ‘I’ understood.