The elements

Air is by any standard or elementally systematic theory the most important of all the elements, for it is the primary element for sustaining life on earth.

All living thing need a certain type of air to survive, for humans, just minutes without oxygen is certain death and the same can be said for almost every animal. The act of breathing air out of the lungs combined with the slight flex of the muscles in the throat can produces a variety of sounds that we use to communicate everyday. This act can be used with rhythm to create the vocals for a song, and with the right instruments that can result in a sweet melody or a rhythmic explosion for all to enjoy. Besides keeping me alive, air is important to me because it plays a significant role in the creation of music. Earth can be directly linked to existence in that it is the element of substance. Everything we touch come directly from or is an altered form of earth.

Without earth none of the other elements would have a place to be. Fire would have nothing to burn therefore would not exist due to lack of fuel; water would have nothing to contain it and air would not be at all due to molecular atrophy. I myself didnt realize how important or involved earth was prior to the research involved for this assignment; since then I have come to know that earth does not just mean ??? dirt??? but includes metals and the other materials humans create from it like plastic and glass. Even further more than 2/3rds of the periodic table of elements is made up of metals or earth as the great Aristole might call it, that says if nothing else that earth is the most diverse of all the elements. Of all the elements if I had to pick one to be evil, it would be fire. I mean when you imagine the worst place conceivable, hell, whether you believe it to be a possible final destination or not you think of an extreme abundance of fire.

Fires only known ability is to burn, a form of consumption that not only destroys what it uses for fuel but transforms its remains into a toxic, gaseous mess. Dont get me wrong I like barbecued meats and oven cured pies, and the occasional romantic setting either by candle or fireplace; but if one element had to be wiped from existence, fire would be the best contender. I dont consider the Sun to be of fire, rather more a very hot ball of gas/air that is just as necessary for life on earth as air itself.

With that being noted, personally, fire is the worst of the elements. Going back to the potential good and evil traits of ancient elements, I feel water would be a good guy, even a hero. Rather than consume and destroy like its arch nemesis water cultivates through its carefully directed streams and rivers, and is an equalizer for all that come within its contact. Water fuels the planet and like air, is another element that sustains life. Our planet is 70% water and with that is safely the most abundant of all the elements.

Even our bodies as humans are around 60% H2O and without a steady source we will die without it in as little as a business week. Even with all of waters great powers, waters most ??? heroic??? attribute may be its ability to clean, better termed, cleanse. Imagine how filthy and congested the world would be without water, well the small percentage that is land anyway. Void. The lack there of anything, the element of nothing.

Never thought of emptiness as anything more than nothing and definitely never considered it to be an element of our world; but now that I do, I cant imagine why I never have before. The void is terribly difficult to explain outside of pure nothingness, silence comes to mind but that would only explain sound and clean cant be an adequate attribute because there was never anything to get rid of. Void may be useful however in describing space, as in the space void or the lack of knowledge we have about space also being a void.