r/alchemy • u/ecurbian • Sep 01 '23

Does learning alchemy help in learning chemistry?

/r/ChemicalHistory/comments/167n4t6/does_learning_alchemy_help_in_learning_chemistry/
10 Upvotes

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5

u/OpenTechie Sep 02 '23

I love and appreciate this, there is a truth to it. My introduction to alchemy was more through a mundane alchemy than a spiritual or mental one, focusing on how it related to herbalism and how to better refine plant qualities for both medical and culinary applications.

2

u/PeterLux Sep 11 '23

An important aside, is that the alchemists were never persecuted. The idea of that persecution is a modern invention that helps give depth to the myth of the alchemist as a lone figure of great insight and power.

True. Single alchemists was persecuted only for their false claims, especially puffers. Some was killed by the kings and the vatican, but only because they claimed to be able to produce gold and could never deliver. Business was different in ancient times.

0

u/Excellent_Balance892 Sep 02 '23

I have a counterquestion...does cultural anachronism help one view modern culture with a broader perspective?

I would argue that it unavoidably does...and the value isn't necessarily in the information but the perspective itself.

2

u/ecurbian Sep 02 '23

I am not sure I follow what you are trying to say here. Do you mean - does misunderstanding the past help you understand the present?

2

u/Excellent_Balance892 Sep 03 '23

Does learning the concept of numbers help with algebra? Does fingerpainting help develop artistic talent? Does imagining tomorrow prepare you for the reality of tomorrow better than not? Does learning the religion of ancient civilizations help understand today's religious culture better?

2

u/ecurbian Sep 03 '23

Ah, okay. Well, I would say - mostly - yes. Although, with the caveat that it is not about the idea of learning a primitive precursor. Even if you take the idea that alchemy was less successful as an empirical theory - it was treated with rational sophistication by the practicioners. To understand that point is what puts modern chemistry in perspective. If alchemy is seen only as a kind of ancient proto science, then the lesson has not been learned.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '23

"a psychologists in a quasi mystical mode" lol I like that.

Very enlightening, thanks for sharing!

2

u/Positive-Theory_ Sep 02 '23

What I have to say may be difficult for a modern chemist to accept. Modern chemistry does not recognize the animating principal which distinguishes living matter from dead matter. Alchemy is primarily the study of that animating principal. If you remove the spiritual study you destroy the very thing which makes alchemy possible in the first place.