"Why is Lego the most ingenious toy in the world?"

• all different kinds, but they still fit together
• easy to assemble
• unbreakable
• look as good as new
• construct any kind of object
• they can be used over and over again
• children today use the same legos as their grandparents did

Democritus (460-370 BC)

• Common sense - Nothing comes from Nothing
• There has to be a foundation
• the soul is made up of atoms and when a person died, they would break up and form a new soul. Thus, the soul is immortal.
• materialist
• everything is mechanical, nothing is random
• Nothing actually "changed," but the building blocks(atoms) were used over and over again
• perception = we sense due to the movement of atoms in space, i.e. We see the moon because moon atoms penetrate our eyes
• The soul is connected to the brain

Atoms

• tiny invisible blocks
• not all alike - different atoms for skin than olive oil
• eternal and immutable
• firm solid
• some smooth and round, some jagged
• join together to from things
• have hooks and barbs
• when an animal dies or something dissolves, the atoms separate and are used again to form something new, i.e. we use same atoms as dinosaurs

Democritus - from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Democritus - Encarta

Democritus - Britannica