Over the course of the summer term, as we have discussed equilibrium and stability in class, I experienced an epiphany. I think that the universe seeks balance, in whatever way it can, according to the conditions. Now equilibrium does not mean that things are perfectly 1:1. What it really means is that under the conditions, the rate in one direction and the rate in the other have reached a steady state, even if it favors one direction over the other.
When we perturb a state or are in a state that is perturbed, we seek something better, something with which we are more comfortable. As a young boy, I was willing to tolerate a much larger degree of entropy (chaos) than my mother, who insisted on straightening it (or rather having me straighten it up more) in order to reach her energy comfort level. Even I eventually reach a point where I will dust, knowing how much I loathe that particular chore, because eventually the cost-benefit ratio is sufficiently low that I'm willing to invest energy.
Most things that come to mind seek greater energy balance. When we are warm in the summer, we eat popsicles, drink water, run through the sprinklers, and if it's hot enough and we can afford it we turn on the climate control. We are constantly on the lookout for a better job, a simpler method, a shorter route, a faster computer, etc. These are done so that when we put forth effort we obtain more gain on the investment, or that are time and limited resources are used more efficiently.
For my students, this is a fairly easy concept to explain. Many of them wait until the last minute to study and must cram until late in the evening or early the morning of the exam. All of those who study daily, or regularly, in smaller doses find that just before the exam all they must do is review and focus on points where they are weaker. If you are willing to put in small amounts to sustain it over time, it takes far less to correct when push comes to shove. That also tends to require a lower net amount of energy investment than to wait until the crisis breaks and fix it then.
I have already written, somewhere at least, that I believe the universe moves towards greatest stability under the conditions. Like I tell the class, if you were in space, the matter and energy of which you are comprised would disburse to fill the void, because that's more stable. Spontaneous processes occur because they are more stable after the reaction than before. The universe will have balance, it will have order, and it will make sure that its energies and resources are distributed to the most efficient manner possible.
This does not mean that things will be concentrated 'equally' between left and right. We all know that the vast expanse of space is largely bereft of both matter and energy. If it were disbursed perfectly, there would be too little of either anywhere in order to do any good to anyone or for any purpose. As I teach about equilibrium, balance does not mean that the teeter-totter of energy is horizontal- it simply means that under the conditions, there is a balance. You know this is true. Balance a fork or a spoon on your finger. It's not perfectly in the center. However, when at rest, it is balanced.
Just as with energy, the two forces in this universe are at balance with one another. Like we might suspect from the universe, most of the energy and matter is skewed towards the 'good' side, or the useful work side. Very little is on the side of 'chaos', because the chaos does not contribute to a balance. Chaotic energy is not doing useful work. God is not balanced out by the devil. He is always stronger, because what He does is always useful. In the end, I have great hope that most of what we do and what He has done for us in this life, will prove to have been useful work.
Most people are satisfied with "good enough". The universe is trying to create something better. Perhaps for that reason unexpected things happen to us, because the universe, so much larger and more powerful than we, is not satisfied with a meager effort once we tip the balance to something more stable, more useful, and more desirable. It pushes onward, or it changes the equation so that when we do something foolish the energy and matter is not wasted.
If the principles are true, then matter and energy and neither created nor destroyed. The universe must have a way to recapture matter and energy that are otherwise or at least from our perspective wasted so that they serve a better end. However inchoate this theorem may be, it is my Apology to the World, that the Great Organizer of Heaven and Earth will have balance, will have order, and will have as much useful work done as possible. As a scientist I have seen it on a small scale, and as I learn to understand more, I see even more reason to believe. Evidence suggests, and I will continue to investigate that end.
May you find balance and may you one day see what useful work your efforts have done. When you reap what you sow, be sure that it is something worthy of reaping.
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