Vox Newman

Darkness Particles

When I was in grade school my best friend and I used to come up with some pretty fanciful ideas.  The one that I always remember was his idea to create a ‘flashdark’.  I don’t recall why he needed one or what its intended use would be but I do remember how he came up with the idea that darkness wasn’t simply the absence of light but a particle all its own.  His idea, assuming this were true, would be to create a device which would emit such particles much like a flashlight emits light.

Years later, I related the tale to two other friends who fancied themselves physicists.  They laughed at the idea and at me for believing it possible.  My naysayers likely mistook my assertion of the possible with that of the probable (and in this case highly probable).  People are wont to do this.  But possible is as far from probable as probable is from provable.  They didn’t understand the distinction at the time and that I had stated possible, not probable.  I assume they do now.

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