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


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Episode 130: Fire