Coal

The past few days I've been thinking a lot about coal. Coal is dirty, it's unrefined. It burns ohot and bright, and has had quite a history of killing scores of people who tried to mine it out of it's natural environment. I was originally planning on making this entry a comparison about how coal can have two uses. It can burn out quickly when used by others, or you can subject it to pressure, stress, and time to create a diamond.

And then while trying to educate myself on the formation of diamonds, I found out that coal rarely (if ever) is involved  in the process of making diamonds. The misconception comes from the fact that diamonds are formed from carbon, and coal is fossilized carbon from plant material. And the type of rock coal is (sedimentary) is not typically deep enough in the earth's crust to have the pressure required for diamond formation. There's some great information here if it interests you.

So now I'm left without the analogy. But that's okay. I was able to educate myself about something that I wasn't intending to learn. Is it valuable information to my everyday living? No, but not all information needs to be. Being stagnant with education is a cancer. You should always strive to learn new things, and never turn down an opportunity to step outside of your comfort zone.

food for thought.....