It would be almost impossible for everyone to suffocate from Midas touching air molecules since he’d not only have to touch many billions around the globe, but he would also need to turn all the various molecules and atoms which can form enough breathable “air” to sustain life into gold. Even in the modern age that would be practically infeasible let alone in the time of Midas. Ignoring that, if we entertain the story of Midas on any level, we have to assume that the power he has is not properly understood or explained. Much as one might tell a child that a phone is something that you can speak into and talk to people all over the world. There are restrictions and caveats to that statement- but the child likely may not understand or have the attention for it, or the adult may not feel like fully explaining.
So let’s look at the power Midas had- if he touches a person, they turn to gold. But why does the entire person turn to gold and not just the oils and dead skin and bacteria on them or the upper layer of skin only? The entire person turns to solid gold- implying that the power propagates past the point of contact. However- he turns objects of various densities and sizes in to gold as well- and nothing in the classic tale implies that anything touching the object is turned to gold- like a person is touching the floor, but the floor and the building and the earth and everything. In contact with the earth don’t turn to gold. If we look at the science- technically Midas isn’t even touching anything. At the Sub atomic level, the matter that composes Midas doesn’t physically contact other “solid objects” to our best understanding. Some force seems to create the state of “solidity”,
Most things including Midas contain more empty space than matter, and such a force is one of the few…
.. functional theories on why we don’t simply fall through the floor or pass through walls. Now- perhaps the key factor in the power, is what Midas THINKS OF as an object? Unless there is some unknown force or intelligence somehow identifying discreetly what is one entity or another- what would be the mechanism by which if Midas touches a towel the towel turns to gold and not the entire building attached to the towel rack? If the power was somehow linked to Midas’s perception- and when he touches something, what constitutes a singular thing is based on what Midas identifies as a discreet object in his mind.
So if Midas touches a doorknob, if he sees the doorknob as it’s own object separate from the door and the house, only the mob turns to gold. If he touches a person- do their clothes turn to gold? In my theory- the clothes would turn to gold along with the person IF Midas saw the person and the clothing as “one object.”
Now conversely- say Midas lived in 2022 and wasn’t very tech savvy. So he touches a computer. Well- he’s probably touch the case right? That’s the part on most computers you can easily touch. Since our example Midas doesn’t see a computer as discreet parts like a motherboard and power supply and case- the entire computer turns to gold most likely. So if we look at just the motherboard and he touches it on a single circuit trace or capacitor- if he saw that ONE component as discreet- only that tiny little piece would turn to gold- not the processor or ram etc. right? So we can keep getting more and more granular- down to molecules and atoms etc. in this theory- Midas wouldn't turn such small individual parts to gold because:
1. It’s unlikely he’d think of the world and objects in terms of every molecule in them.
2. It’s unlikely he’d even know things smaller than can be seen with the eye exist, let alone what they are.
So he can’t visualize those as objects and thusly they are…
.. treated as parts of a whole.
“Wait a moment..” you might say. “Isn’t that an argument for why he’d turn ALL air into gold? Because he doesn’t see each molecule or any amount of air as separate- he’d consider it all one item right?”
Probably not. The concept proves it out pretty well I think. It’s unlikely that Midas would consider air or the atmosphere an “object” or a “thing” at all. Midas would have been around the 7th century BC. Concepts like wind and the need for humans to breath existed- but historical records don’t indicate they were extremely well understood. In fact, many early beliefs in the matter treated “air” as more of a force or ethereal thing, a type of energy, relating to spirit than a physical reality.
The concept humans need to breath was likely established very early in our pre history- but we do have records from various periods of antiquity in which it is indicated that it wasn’t understood that humans needed to take in air- it was simply believed that the
ACT of breathing was somehow important and that things which stopped you from doing the action killed you. Think of it like this- you can feel or even hear a human heart beat without need for any technology or tools. It wouldn’t take a genius to notice that living humans give off such a beat as would most animals- but dead humans or animals and objects that aren’t animated generally wouldn’t have such a beat. If one didn’t know the heart existed or that it add the beat or why- it could be reasonable to assume that the beat itself was a sign of life and not a symptom of a mechanical process. Many modern machines and even certain natural occurrences can create a rhythmic “beat” like a heart, but they of course aren’t alive in any meaningful sense. That said- the primitive understanding might assume that with a heart beat was alive and that without was not.
Going back to Midas and putting tbis all together- he most likely didn’t consider air an object let alone one giant object he was surrounded by. We have other clues in the story his powers don’t work this way or quite as described either. His internal organs and such touch each other. When he puts his arms down or stands without his legs apart or allows his… royal scepter and Crown Jewels to hang- he’s touching himself. Many examples of where we touch our own bodies just by how our joints are designed and through normal movement.
Most stories don’t indicate his own clothing turned to gold and he needed cut out to be able to move. Wouldn’t his shoes turn to gold, or if he wore no shoes the ground? So if we take the story with any seriousness- his powers function in a more complex way than the observer to the story could understand ir was explained.
Of course maybe he did turn air into gold. If that were the case, he’d constantly have a molecule or atom thin shell of gold around him that would likely break at the finest movement of Midas or the wait around him or just gravity. If he stayed in one place long enough, a super fine gold dust might form in quantities significant enough to see with the naked eye, but at the theoretical rate of conversion it would probably take him an exceptionally long time convert and significant amount of breathable gas into gold.
It would probably be easier, faster, and more practical for him to kill everyone by literally playing tag with the entire global population than to kill everyone trying to turn air into gold to suffocate everyone- even if it were possible with his powers, which we can’t say it is and as I lay out here- it might not really be the way it works.
Most things including Midas contain more empty space than matter, and such a force is one of the few…
So if Midas touches a doorknob, if he sees the doorknob as it’s own object separate from the door and the house, only the mob turns to gold. If he touches a person- do their clothes turn to gold? In my theory- the clothes would turn to gold along with the person IF Midas saw the person and the clothing as “one object.”
1. It’s unlikely he’d think of the world and objects in terms of every molecule in them.
2. It’s unlikely he’d even know things smaller than can be seen with the eye exist, let alone what they are.
So he can’t visualize those as objects and thusly they are…
“Wait a moment..” you might say. “Isn’t that an argument for why he’d turn ALL air into gold? Because he doesn’t see each molecule or any amount of air as separate- he’d consider it all one item right?”
Probably not. The concept proves it out pretty well I think. It’s unlikely that Midas would consider air or the atmosphere an “object” or a “thing” at all. Midas would have been around the 7th century BC. Concepts like wind and the need for humans to breath existed- but historical records don’t indicate they were extremely well understood. In fact, many early beliefs in the matter treated “air” as more of a force or ethereal thing, a type of energy, relating to spirit than a physical reality.
The concept humans need to breath was likely established very early in our pre history- but we do have records from various periods of antiquity in which it is indicated that it wasn’t understood that humans needed to take in air- it was simply believed that the
Most stories don’t indicate his own clothing turned to gold and he needed cut out to be able to move. Wouldn’t his shoes turn to gold, or if he wore no shoes the ground? So if we take the story with any seriousness- his powers function in a more complex way than the observer to the story could understand ir was explained.
It would probably be easier, faster, and more practical for him to kill everyone by literally playing tag with the entire global population than to kill everyone trying to turn air into gold to suffocate everyone- even if it were possible with his powers, which we can’t say it is and as I lay out here- it might not really be the way it works.