Week 8: Newton's Laws and Me

First Law: Inertia. Objects at rest remain at rest, and objects in motion remain in motion in a straight line at constant velocity. A force must be applied to change the state of motion of an object. If I am to apply this law to myself I would have to say that when I am in motion it is hard to slow me down, and vice versa. If I am inert, resting, it's hard to get me going. I embrace each state of being in its totality. I go go go and then rest. Of corse when considering the yin/yang aspect of all life, there is always a small bit of inertia that exists within the motion and a tiny amount of motion that exists within inertia. For example, while one is sleeping, or engaged in what seems like complete inertia, there is motion during sleep, tossing and turning in the sheets as well as vivid dreams that take place. During wake state, while running around during the day, there are always moments that arise in which we can take a moment to just breath and observe. I must apply a force, consciouse awareness, in order to slow down for a brief instant.

Second Law: Action and reaction. The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the force acting on it, and inversely proportional to its mass. The first law is contained in this second law. "The acceleration of a body is proportional to the force on it. " "The harder we push on a movable body, the quicker its speed changes." While driving my car, the speed at which i am driving is directly related to the amount of pressure that i am placing on the accelerator. I will drive faster if i push further down on the accelerator, just as I will drive slower if i don't push down as much on the accelerator.

Third Law: Acceleration. If two objects interact, say in a collision, the force exerted by object 1 on object 2 is matched by a force of exerted by object 2 on object 1 of the same size, but in the opposite direction. This explains "the nature of forces." "The assumption is that a force is simply a manifestation of the interaction between a pair of bodies." "There can not be a pushee without a pusher." "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Lao-tze used the phrase "reversing is the movement of the Tao" to explain what he thought was a universal law of nature. This law meant that if any one thing swings too much to the right of a pendulum, then it is only natural and can surely be expected to swing to the opposite side with the same momentum. "When a thing reaches one extrme, it reverts from it." And, "if anything develops certain qualites, those qualities invariably revert to become thier opposites."

Our "Energy Efficient" culture:

I don't think i will find much disagreement (at least in the Bay Area) over the statement that we, here in the U.S., are lacking in energy efficient awareness. It is such a huge problem. Just the thought of writing about the subject for a class assignement brings an overwhelming sense of doom. We are in an energy crisis!!!!!!!!

Let's face it, on Earth energy is life. Without the continuance of energy resources our life will cease to exist as we know it, or maybe cease altogether. We have bought and used up many natural resources of energy here in our own country and abroad, many times stealing energy from others, all in the effort to promote our lifestyle, which is not energy efficient!!! The result, we are not very popular abroad, the decline in natural resources, pollution, and waste, waste, and more waste. Impletmenting change in the hearts and minds of individuals is challenging but this is where our focus should be, not on where to get more, but to use what we already have in an efficient manner. There needs to be a shift in focus, a large shift in focus, from selfishness and greed to charity, sharing, conservation, and efficiency. Efficiency needs to be an integral part of business practices and the individual's way of life. We need to determine what our energy needs are and then go about implemeting reward for energy efficient "behavior." We need to make rapid progress. There isn't much time left!

Descartes has a lot to answer for:

Descartes is responsible, in part, for putting forth ideas that supported reductionism. Westerners accepted this reductionist view and let holistic world views fall by the waste side. There is value in being able to mathmatically solve problems, explain various phenomena, and reduce things to the sum of thier parts. We have made many scientific advancements with our ability to reason. But what has been lost in the process? It's not Descartes' fault for having put forth his ideas. How would he know that his ideas would have such a profound effect on development in West. In Chinese philosophy, it is said that one needs perfect people, place, and timing in order for great change and innovation to take place. One could say that the paradigm shift in thought was "meant to be" so to speak. But now we must rethink our choices, retrace our steps, change again. We must move back to an appreciation of natural phenomena, embrace the concept of "unbroken wholeness," and move toward acceptance of the idea that the whole is contained in the small parts.