Dendrite Myths

A recent post on Orthoprax has brought quite a few readers to this site to examine the geological evidence that plant-like structures in rocks are actually caused by the growth of managanese crystals. An alternative explanation given on a religious web site which Orthoprax links to is that such features are "mysterious engravings" created by God to allow Moses to recognise Mount Sinai when he returned from Egypt after reporting to the Jews about the redemption. The "engravings" are said to represent the burning bush.

It does not surprise me that people have interpreted these features in the rocks as a reflection of divine intervention. They are rather unusual and they do look like branching plants. Such things in fact "demand" to be explained but, millenia ago, absence of chemical analysis equipment and laboratory facilities for experimentation on crystal growth would have made this difficult. The noted similarity with plants is already a step in the right direction as regards interpretation of these structures however since the branching crystal structures grow in the same way that plants grow.

And while we're on the subject, the sculptor Richard Aumonier is back to blogging and his last two posts were both discussions of natural dendritic forms.

Finally, the dendritic image at the top of the page was generated automatically somewhere on the web that I have unfortunately forgotten. It represents in some way the Connaissances blog, with all its related links.

God's Mountains

Chris, at Highly Allochthonous, a geological blog I link to on the side bar has been reflecting on his Evangelical friend's comment as they walked together among the mountains of the Vanoise National Park:

"Don’t these mountains make you think of God?”

For Chris, the mountains do not remind him of God and he goes on to say:

...the problem for many people (is that) they don’t like to feel small and insignificant, and they certainly don’t like the theological implications of being such a tiny part of a universe so mind-bogglingly old and large and alien: namely, that if there is a God that set the whole thing in motion, it is just as mind-bogglingly vast and alien – and it may not consider us to be particularly important...

I'm not sure about these arguments. Firstly, I'm not convinced that Chris' friend necessarily feels further away from God because he equates the mountains with God. Actually, many religions record prophets and visionaries who go into the mountains to be closer to God.

Nor do I think that people feel further from God because they feel insignificant in the Universe. It's not a common teaching of Religions that we should build up our egos after all. Their teachings are more often to do with coming to terms with who we are, following laws that will help us to become better people and being strong in our meekness.

On the other hand I have met numerous scientists with enormous egos.

However, I agree with Chris that the presence of mountains is not necessarily evidence of the existence of God.

But nor is the geological evidence that shows how mountains form evidence of the non-existence of God. It only shows that our concept of how God might have created the earth and the universe (if he did - I'm not saying he did) is strictly limited both in a biblical and scientific sense.

The deep mystery of the creation of the universe and our place in it persists. I think Chris' friend is lucky in a sense to be able to trust his instinct and connect his own sense of wonder at the mountains to a belief in universal supernatural order.

There is, after all, an important difference between observing and feeling.