Episode 131: Water
Released June 3rd, 2025
Oceans, baths, ponds, and amniotic sacs? In episode 131 of Overthink, David and Ellie take a deep dive into the topic of water as part of their four-part series on the elements. They discuss how all life begins in water, and the conceptual features of water, such as its fluidity and shapelessness. What did Thales of Miletus mean by ‘all is water’? How is water used as a metaphor for the Dao? And at what point does being in water go from feeling like Moana to feeling like Jaws? In the Patreon bonus segment, talk about water as a symbol of purification, the significance of plate tectonics, and the relationship between AI and water usage.
Works Discussed
Aristotle, On the Heavens
Francis Bacon, Novum Organum
Jamie Linton, What Is Water? The History of a Modern Abstraction
David Macauley, Elemental Philosophy: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water as Environmental Ideas
Anna Secor, “Spacetimeunconscious”
Neil Shubin, Your Inner Fish
Lao Tzu, Dao De Jing
Peter Godfrey Smith, Metazoa
