Bubbles.

We are an infinite set of bubbles. There is how we feel, and how we pretend we feel. What we say, and what we actually think. How we are when we are stressed, relaxed, or having fun. These bubbles vary in size and consistency. For most people, bubbles mean safety. Protection, a way to hide from the world.

All sorts of people have bubbles; happy people, sad people, sea people, country people, people who use deckchairs...

These bubbles can cause us to become closer or can force us apart. But what makes a bubble compatible? Is it like the blood group ABO system, with antibodies and antigens, or is it like a lock and key fit, like enzymes? Because there is something in the way we perceive other people's bubbles that make us think hey. That person is actually pretty cool. I wouldn't mind getting to know them. Usually this happens in the first thirty seconds to a minute.

This means that there must be something quite big in people's bubbles that we recognise, like, I don't know, some people have a hexagon shape in their bubble, and others an octagon. but equally, on top of that, there has to be smaller things, like a fractal, bits getting ever smaller, ever more intricate that we pick up on. If we're really lucky, we can find someone who's bubble meshes with ours perfectly, a soul mate if you will, but equally, that is fairly rare - has to be fairly rare because of all the variety inherent in living things.

And all of this comes from four iddy-bitty little chemicals which come together to form DNA. The fact that all of the diversity from the smallest single celled organism, or bacterium to us, via ants, and elephants and dolphins is frankly amazing. Four little chemicals creates almost the entirety of the world we live in and all those different bubbles we interact with every day of our lives.

I could wax eloquent for hours about how amazing DNA and genetics is. but I won't. Some things you have to find out for yourself. Saying that, I'm sure sooner or later there will be a post about genetics. I think about it a fair bit. It fascinates me, and yet, not the bloke who lives in the flat below. He has a different bubble. Because he has a different upbringing, and also a different genome. See what I mean?