Page 58 - Darwin's Dilemma: The Soul

Darwin’s Dilemma: The Soul

X-ray machines take photographs by converting the effect of radio waves in-
to visible light on photographic film.

The idea that the external world we perceive exists only
through the help of visible light is actually our own impression.
There is actually no light in the outside world, in which a pitch
darkness rules. Neither lamps, nor car headlights, nor the Sun emit
any light in the sense we know it. Light occurs and illuminates the
world we live in solely as a perception in our brains.
The Sun and other sources of light emit electromagnetic parti-
cles (photons) at varying wavelengths. These particles spread out-
ward through the universe as dictated by their structures. For ex-
ample, many radioactive particles pass right through your body.
Only a lead shield can halt them. Some of these particles are so
heavy and so charged with energy that they generally destroy any
molecules they meet and continue on their way without changing
course. This is the underlying reason why radiation causes cancer.
X-ray machines make use of a weaker form of radiation. Via pho-
tosensitive film, these machines convert the effect set up by radio
waves into visible light, converting them into a form that our reti-
nas can detect. In other words, light exists as long as it is per-
cieved by the eye and interpreted by the brain. But light and il-
lumination do not exist outside in the terms with which we are
familiar.

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