Nothing Ever Truly Touches

It sounds impossible, but it’s true: you have never physically touched anything in your entire life.

When you press your hand against a table, the atoms in your hand never meet the atoms in the

table. Instead, what you feel is the electromagnetic force repelling

them. Atoms are mostly empty space. Their nuclei are tiny,

and their electrons exist as probability clouds. When two objects come close,

the negatively charged electrons repel each other, creating the sensation we interpret as

“touch.” The stronger the repulsion, the harder the surface feels. This means that

the solid world around you is an illusion created by invisible forces. Walls feel solid