Editor’s Note: This article explores the unconventional argument that air is visible to the naked eye, challenging long-held beliefs. Through logical reasoning and experimental observations, it presents the notion that, just as fish cannot see water, humans cannot see the air immediately surrounding their eyes. By understanding fluid layers and conducting focused experiments, the article invites readers to rethink their perception of air and visibility. It concludes with intriguing observations about air particles, sparking curiosity and encouraging further exploration of this overlooked topic.
Air (as we know it generally) is Visible to the Eyes
Often I fail to understand how this simple concept could elude the greatly acclaimed minds of philosophers past. This basic thing, I would assume, should have been tackled first before we engage our minds to pore over much more complicated and onerous philosophical and scientific facts. As far as I have knowledge, none of the great thinkers gone, or those presently have delved deeper into this theme. That is why I would like to engage everyone into mulling over this issue. From here, I would then encourage everyone who is intellectually inclined to read through my arguments carefully and unhurriedly so that they can raise much more logical and deeper counter perspectives of this laborious matter. Nevertheless, I do not mean to say that these deliberations are for the boffins only; it is for everyone and anyone who is capable of rationalizing. I am personally (and definitely) not a boffin!
For a long time, as far as all of us can remember, air has always been invisible. And everyone is comfortable with the fact that air is invisible. I seek to counter this argument and to prove the converse to be true in this text. That air is visible and can be seen at any time with our plain eyes.
First allow me to do some groundwork that will be fundamental to your understanding:
1. I would define the word fluid as would be used in our discourse. A fluid is anything liquid or gaseous or the mixture of liquid and gaseous components. Fluids can be transparent, translucent or they can be opaque.
2. I would also like to make another statement of fact to be used towards the conclusion of this dissertation: most snakes do not have batting eyelids. These same snakes do not principally rely on the sense of vision to detect a foreigner or any alien object, their visual acuity is so low that they have to chiefly bank on their sensitive skin to detect vibrations in their vicinity and ultimately locate an alien through the vibrations generated by the alien’s movements.
With the above enlisted points taken into your consideration, I therefore submit to you the very first and basic assertion. When we look around in our environment, we can see everything encumbered in our surrounding. As you look outside, you notice houses, trees stones or whatever else you can see that is around you. We can see these objects, and these objects are enveloped in a fluid we call air. So we see through air (a colorless fluid) and focus on the objects in the air. We do not see the air, we see the objects in air. Notice that air is the fluid that is also immediately shelling our eyes. Air is the first layer of substance that covers our eyes – (of course apart from the normal constituents of the eye like tears etc.).
In a like manner, I would also need you to reflect on the animals that live in water. Take for example the fish. Fish also have got eyes with battling eyelids. While we cannot see air because we live in the inside of it, the fish cannot also see water.
Water, being a transparent fluid that is in immediate in contact with their eyes, they never see the water; instead they see objects in water. Therefore, fish can see other fishes in water, but cannot see water itself. We can accordingly then say that our eyes are unable to see the layer of fluid immediately covering it, for as long as the fluid is transparent and is of a certain breadth. This shall be our first principle in this treatise.
What in reality this principle means is that if a person dives down an ocean, sea or lake, the person will lose his cognizance of water, he will only see the objects that are in water: BUT not the water therein. To extend this principle for you further, if the same person tries to look at the sky or the surface of the earth from the inside depths of the ocean, he will not be able to see beyond the surface of water. The surface of water will suddenly become blurred, and he will only see sun rays: what happens is that from the surface of the water, there is a different fluid medium (air). And since air is not the layer of fluid immediately after his eyes, the water becomes visible to his eyes and therefore creating the blurry impression. Nevertheless he will be able to see light rays (sun rays) because sun rays travels in any transparent media, regardless of their arrangement in terms of their densities.
To excogitate the first principle even more profoundly, we shall apply the principle in a control experiment I am to designate down here:
Assuming we had a block of transparent glass of a considerable breath, the thickness of the glass being something like 20 meters. If a person was to stand from one end of the glass and press his face against the glass, and his eyes seeing through the transparent mass, the person will see through the glass as if the glass did not exist. He will see all the things embedded in the glass, but not the glass itself. At the same time, he will not be able to objects that are on the other side of the glass but not in the glass. Why? Because at the other end of the glass is air, and air not being the layer of transparent fluid immediately after the eyes of the viewer, will definitely become visible to the eyes of the viewer and therefore effectively blocking the viewing of the objects that are in the air itself. This is indubitably empirical.
I would also like to expound on the first point using a simple and commonplace object – a contact lens. When a person has worn contact lenses, he will not see the contact lenses themselves (because the contact lenses would be the transparent media immediately after the eyes of the person). But if he is to move the contact lenses further from his eyes, the lenses will become visible. However, the lens, when worn, is not thick enough so as to cause a distortion with the next layer of fluid (air). That is why you will be able to put on contact lenses and still see through the same contact diaphragms into the next layer of fluid. It is like diver who is merely at the surface of water or just slightly submerged- he will see what is in the both media.
At this point, we can then safely move to our second principle.
The basis of this principle would be from an ingenious question, one may ask ‘it is common knowledge that fluids exist in layers. And from the first principle as stated above, it is only the layer of fluid immediately after the seeing organ that ought to be invisible to our eyes. Therefore and consequently rendering all the other layers of fluid air visible to our eyes, how come then that the very far off layers of air are nonetheless invisible to our eyes? Should the far off layers then be visible in accordance with the first principle?’
You see, layers in fluids do not exist in a permanent form. They are always rearranging themselves; the implication of this fact is not that the layers of air will not form, but that the layers of the fluid will take time to form. So, yes, the layers of the air will exist; but will take time to form. Basically, this means that one would be able to see up to an indefinite distance after his eyes before the layers of air form!
Now this is countered through the biological process of blinking. When a person or an animal blinks, the layers of air that were initially forming after his eyes will be distorted, and during that time of distortion in the layers of air, one would see an indefinite distance. This means then that there more the blinking frequency, the clearer the eyes see, and the further away in distance they see too. This is the second principle. Although again if you blinked too fast, your eyes will lose focus of what you want to see, so there has to be a balance.
The second principle is effectively actualized by the snakes which do not blink. Since the snakes do not blink, layers of air have already formed after the eyes of the snake in an almost relative permanence. So the snakes can only see through the first layer of air (which is probably 2meters -10meters). That is how far the snakes can see, and if then an object lies further away from the first layer of air of the snake’s eyes, the snake will not recognize the object. The snake will then have to rely on its highly adapted sensory nerves to decode the vibrations she is receiving before escaping to safety. So if you are a reasonable distance away from a snake, be sure the snake will not easily pick you out- all will be blurred.
HOW YOU CAN SEE AIR
This experiment has also been stemmed from the second principle. It is just amazing the fact that you will be able to see air. I will try to describe the components of air after the explanation.
In this experiment, which has been done successfully by some people under my guidance, we try to oppose the second principle. We do that in order to let the layers of air form; and after they form, we are to focus deeply on the particles that constitute air in the already formed layers.
This is done by focusing at a far of distance and on a specific object (say for example we focus on a specific part of the sky on a not very sunny day). Continue to focus on the object or thing and try your best to avoid blinking; the part of not blinking will allow the layers of air to begin forming- first with the far of layers, then the layers will gradually move closer to your eyes.
Still continue focusing and try figuring out what it is you are seeing. Figure out what it is exactly that is causing you that blurred vision. Try to identify each particle.
Do this for a number of times, until you perfect the art. You will then see particles of air (at least as I could conclude logically).
MY OBSERVATIONS
I know a good number of you are impatient to know my findings, so well, I will tell you pointedly.
The maximum amount of particles that I saw appeared like smoke- very tiny articles with a dark color (this I concluded to be Nitrogen because of the general percentage amount, they appeared to be almost everywhere. Note: Nitrogen constitutes 78% of air components).
Secondly I observed things that looked like tiny, but shiny dots. (This I concluded to be oxygen, oxygen flecks are 21% of air constituents).
Lastly, there were other particles that were grayish and were made of two concentric circles. These are very rare to see nevertheless. I concluded they are Carbon IV Oxide.
Of course don’t tell me that the air particles are atomic in nature and therefore invisible to plain eyes. Of course they are! This last part is much more of a spice than an argument being forwarded. You got my point anyway, didn’t you?
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