Galaxies as Islands

Metaphor: Galaxies imagined as “island universes,” solitary archipelagos drifting in the cosmic ocean.

Problem: This metaphor implies isolation and self-contained boundaries, erasing the flows of matter, energy, and relational influence between galactic systems. It frames the cosmos in terms of human-scale geography, flattening emergent interactions into distant, lonely landmasses.

Relational ontology: Galaxies are relational clusters, dynamically interacting across spacetime. Distances, gravitational interactions, and matter-energy exchanges are part of ongoing alignment, not separation.

Parody punchline: If galaxies were islands, Andromeda would have ferry schedules, supernovae would be beachfront resorts, and the Milky Way would be the one with a particularly messy beach towel.