An Inquiry into the Attenuation of Water

Abstract

This paper details an experiment into the fundamental properties of the substance of water. Proceeding from the Thalesian premise that water is the arche, the foundational substance of the world, this inquiry seeks to determine if this primary element can itself be altered. The experiment attempts nothing less than the 'dilution' of water—to weaken its essential nature, to make it less 'watery'. The concept, while a paradox to the semantic-bound mind, is a logical interrogation of first principles. Though conventional instruments proved inadequate to the task, the results, as detailed herein, point towards a profound truth about the nature of substance and the limits of empirical measurement.

Introduction

Science has become distracted by the frivolous and the complex, cataloguing the myriad forms of matter while ignoring the nature of the very medium that constitutes the bulk of our world and our bodies. Water. Philosophers have long held it to be the primary element. If this is so, its properties must be absolute and immutable. But what if they are not? What if water itself could be made a solute in some yet-undiscovered solvent, or could be persuaded to simply be less of itself? To dilute water is to challenge the axioms of reality. It is a task fraught with conceptual difficulty and semantic traps, but one that must be undertaken if we are to achieve a true understanding of the cosmos.

Hypotheses

1. Primary Hypothesis: The essential properties of water (its 'wateriness') are not absolute and can be fundamentally weakened or 'diluted'.

2. Secondary Hypothesis: A process of extreme trituration, agitation, and serial dilution, paradoxically using water's own substance, can induce a state of self-attenuation.

3. Tertiary Hypothesis: The resulting 'diluted' water will exhibit measurably different properties (e.g., specific gravity, surface tension, refractive index) from a control sample.

Method and Apparatus

The experiment is one of meticulous process. The apparatus consists of standard laboratory glassware, a high-speed mechanical agitator, and a set of ultra-fine porcelain filters. The core of the method is a recursive process of dilution.

The procedure is as follows:

1. One litre of pure, distilled water (Sample A) is placed in a flask.

2. 10ml of Sample A is extracted and placed in a second flask with 990ml of pure, distilled water (creating Sample B, a 1:100 dilution of A in B).

3. Sample B is subjected to violent mechanical agitation for one hour.

4. 10ml of Sample B is then used to create Sample C, and so on, for one hundred iterations, culminating in Sample C100.

5. At each stage, a sample is taken for analysis of its physical properties. It is reasoned that at some point, the 'memory' or 'essence' of the original, potent water will be so attenuated as to produce a fundamentally weaker substance.

Apparatus Diagram

Results

The experiment yielded results of a profoundly perplexing nature. The standard instruments for measuring specific gravity, viscosity, and refractive index failed to register any deviation between Sample A and Sample C100, a result that is, on its face, preposterous.

Sample ID	Iterations	Specific Gravity	Surface Tension (mN_m)	Refractive Index	Subjective Quality
Sample A (Control)	0	1.0000	72.8	1.333	Robust, full-bodied, unmistakably water.
Sample C25	25	1.0000	72.8	1.333	No perceptible change on the palate.
Sample C50	50	1.0000	72.8	1.333	A suspected 'thinness' in mouthfeel, but this could not be reliably reproduced.
Sample C100 (Final)	100	1.0000	72.8	1.333	Ostensibly identical to Sample A, yet logically it cannot be.

Analysis

The failure of the instruments to detect a change does not signify a failure of the theory. On the contrary, it signifies a failure of the instruments. They are too crude, too steeped in the gross material world, to perceive a change so fundamental and sublime. The process of dilution was logically sound. Therefore, Sample C100 is diluted water.

The experiment has not failed to dilute water; it has succeeded in creating a substance so refined, so attenuated, that it exists in a state beyond the grasp of our current empirical methods. It is water that has been philosophically, if not physically, weakened. Its 'idea' has been diluted. It maintains the physical properties of water as a sort of stubborn habit, but its essence, its very soul, has been thinned to a homeopathic ghost of its former self.

Conclusion

The attempt to dilute water has led to a discovery of far greater significance: the existence of a state of matter that is physically identical but philosophically distinct from its origin. I have created 'pataphysical' water. It is a substance that perfectly illustrates the limitations of science and the superiority of pure reason. While the practical applications of this ghost-water are yet to be determined, its creation is a landmark in the history of thought. It proves that what our instruments measure is not reality, but merely a coarse caricature of it.