Hello everyone,First, I am now a Google Waver! Find me at zeneece@googlewave.com. I started my first public wave for atheists: Atheists Unite!
Secondly, I must confess my ignorance on a certain matter that has been bouncing around my brain for some time. I have asked my genius husband Butch and he didn't have an answer, which made me feel better.
I'll start with an example:
I always thought aspirin was found in the bark of white willows, and then was made in the lab. But the history seems to be entirely in the laboratory, according to Wikipedia. Also there does seem to be a connection between white willow bark and eventually aspirin.
Needless to say these days, aspirin is made strictly in the lab/factory. My question is, if things are made strictly from chemicals, where do the chemicals themselves come from? And a followup question would be, wouldn't that make everything natural, at some point? Doesn't everything eventually lead back to nature?
Another example:
Black Gold, petroleum, crude oil. It's considered this unnatural thing. But didn't it come from rotting vegetation and other natural organic matter?
When does something natural become something synthetic?
Why are natural things considered superior to synthetic things nowadays? Is there some proof that it's true? Or is it marketing/propaganda?
I'm not trying to start anything, or as the Brits would say, I'm not trying to have a go at synthetics. I really just want to understand. If the red food dye and flavoring in my drink stick mix is synthetic, where did the chemicals that make it up come from?
I would love your feedback and thoughts on this. But please, I took chemistry in high school which was over 20 years ago (egads, that made me feel old), so keep it simple.
Thanks friends! :)
