Elements-Which Ones Do You Think Count?

[Maximillian Shadowdrake]

Hi-Yo, I'm not sure if this counts as allowed philosophy, since the last philosophers to think about this were Pre-Socratic, but I'm curious.
When you think of elements, what comes to mind on the list?

For me, it's:

Fire
Water
Air
Earth
Light(and Dark)
Life
Metal

What comes to YOUR mind?  

[Zephyr]

Actually if i had to get specific i'd say the elements are light and dark. when you add any more to the mix it just makes things more inefficient. Light is made up of all the elements... and dark is made out of all the anti-elements...  

[Noetical]

it depends which kind of elements your talking about, for example, your talking about the elements of nature. I dont think thats what zephyr is talking about as i dont see fire and water fitting into either light or dark. I think hes talking more about the elements of good and evil, emotional spectrum, psyche etc.  

[Maximillian Shadowdrake]

Yeah, that was kinda nonsensical.  

[PhilosophyMind]

I consider Metal a part of Earth, and Avatar: The Last Airbender agrees with me (when Toph bends Metal).

I agree with Moyga here: you're trying to group together all sorts of specific elements. There are natural elements, the elements of good and evil, etc.  

[AbrAbraxas]

you have to consider these things within the context of their origins.
the five elements are from taoism which are wood, air, fire, water, metal
now as for the four elemental systems i am not sure of the origin but many schools use earth, fire, water and air. this four elemental system can be applied to many other concepts, such as the chakra system and many yogic systems, earth being the lowest represents the body, fire the base emotions, water the nurturing emotions/soul and air the mind. other people have thier own interpretations also.  

[Deaths Krow]

I'm writing a fantasy novel, and in my novel I place my own belief in the "elements" and list them.
Earth: plants(includes trees) animals stone soil and and transformtaion.
Fire: Heat and pressure and illusion.
Wind: Again pressure but also weather and sound.
Water: not really water but any object in it's liquid state.
Light: Physical force and actual light.
Darkness: Menntal force and actual Darkness.
Ice: Really solid objects, more like telekenesis.
Life: Healing and creation/construction.
Death: yeah death and then destruction.  

[27x]

Zephyr

Actually if i had to get specific i'd say the elements are light and dark. when you add any more to the mix it just makes things more inefficient. Light is made up of all the elements... and dark is made out of all the anti-elements...

Elements are basic atoms. Lite is made up of photons. Photons are made up of electrons, and electrons come from atoms. Yu see their is kind of sphericle a shell around the atom with one or more electron. Another shell below that also sphericle, that contains a certin ammount of neutrons and protons. The atom are different depending on the amount of neutrons electrons and protons. The nutrons make most of the weight, and decide what amount of electrons to keep, as if another atom with less neutrons has an electron the first one needs, then the first one will take it out and put it in it's own shell(electricity). This can go on for a long ways, but very fast. THis proves that electrons can be taken out of atoms. ALso if you want proof of the photon thing look at a flashlight. IT has no power source but electricity, and it makes photons from that. Each different kind of single atom is an alement. Fire is not an element. Water is not an element. Light is not an element. Dark is not a thing. I don't remember the rest but they probably arn't elements either unless you are talking about the elements of nature.

ALltogether in my opinion if it's for a story I should say, like all of them are important, but you chose two opposite ones as the greatest ones, and everybody is on that side. You could do somthing like in the avatar where their where four elements but it wouldnt matter.  

[AbrAbraxas]

to continue from my first post a scientific basis of the four classic elements can be seen in the states of matter, from which they are perhaps an intuitive representation. from dense to least dense is solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. These would correspond to Earth, Water, Air and Fire, though the fire of plasma is more akin to the sun or lightning than to a campfire or lighter. in the five element system Earth is divided in two, a more dense Metal which corresponds to mineral or non-organic nature and Wood which makes distinction for the living quality of earth and represents organic manifestations of earth.  

[Zurvan Razandel]

See, I could never wrap my head around Metal & Wood. Wood is just dead life or living plant. However, at the tie of life it is composed of/dependent on solids, liquids, and gases- just like us. Plasma has always been the odd one out for me, as it's simply an excited state of atoms- heat. However, I feel that it is something very important to existence, after all. It is what gives us life, for instance, for without electrical impulses our brains would not work and never would have developed. We may occasionally see ourselves as wholly different from plants, but we are both alive.  

[Pifflestick]

There are six elements, fire, water, earth, air, light, and dark. Metal is part of earth and life is part of light. There are no more, no less. Unless you get scientific, but this is a philosophy forum.  

[AbrAbraxas]

Pifflestick

There are six elements, fire, water, earth, air, light, and dark. Metal is part of earth and life is part of light. There are no more, no less. Unless you get scientific, but this is a philosophy forum.

there are only six? how did you arrive at this distinction?  

[Smartteaser192]

27x

Zephyr

Actually if i had to get specific i'd say the elements are light and dark. when you add any more to the mix it just makes things more inefficient. Light is made up of all the elements... and dark is made out of all the anti-elements...

Elements are basic atoms. Lite is made up of photons. Photons are made up of electrons, and electrons come from atoms. Yu see their is kind of sphericle a shell around the atom with one or more electron. Another shell below that also sphericle, that contains a certin ammount of neutrons and protons. The atom are different depending on the amount of neutrons electrons and protons. The nutrons make most of the weight, and decide what amount of electrons to keep, as if another atom with less neutrons has an electron the first one needs, then the first one will take it out and put it in it's own shell(electricity). This can go on for a long ways, but very fast. THis proves that electrons can be taken out of atoms. ALso if you want proof of the photon thing look at a flashlight. IT has no power source but electricity, and it makes photons from that. Each different kind of single atom is an alement. Fire is not an element. Water is not an element. Light is not an element. Dark is not a thing. I don't remember the rest but they probably arn't elements either unless you are talking about the elements of nature.

ALltogether in my opinion if it's for a story I should say, like all of them are important, but you chose two opposite ones as the greatest ones, and everybody is on that side. You could do somthing like in the avatar where their where four elements but it wouldnt matter.

You are misleading 27x. This is not a scientific but a mystical discussion about "elements".  

[Niniva]

Pifflestick

There are six elements, fire, water, earth, air, light, and dark. Metal is part of earth and life is part of light. There are no more, no less. Unless you get scientific, but this is a philosophy forum.

I can't tell you how offensive this statement is to me.


Are you suggesting that philosophy can't be scientific? Or vice versa? Come now surely you jest.






By the way....where is "heart" on this list? Gogo captain planet!  

[whynaut]

AbrAbraxas

you have to consider these things within the context of their origins.
the five elements are from taoism which are wood, air, fire, water, metal
now as for the four elemental systems i am not sure of the origin but many schools use earth, fire, water and air. this four elemental system can be applied to many other concepts, such as the chakra system and many yogic systems, earth being the lowest represents the body, fire the base emotions, water the nurturing emotions/soul and air the mind. other people have thier own interpretations also.

The four elements: earth, fire, water and air, are the classical or Greek elements.

On an interesting side note, Taoism does not include Air into their 5 basics elements, however its closest equivalent would be called Chi. And Chi is supposed the foundation for the other 5 elements.