IN A TIME before science, we gave human qualities to natural phenomena as a way to explain them and manage our fear of them. In our world, humans were the only entities that made things happen deliberately - and without knowing what physics or thermodynamics were, the only way we could make sense of nature was to conclude that a human-like being was behind it.
Lightning is a perfect example. It’s an enormous, terrifying bolt of blinding light that comes from the sky along with a noise that shakes you to your bones. It can set a whole forest alight, explode your cows and kill your aunty, who’s just going about her business out the back.
We didn’t understand lightning
