The Joy of Order

What are the most powerful forces in the universe?  You might say gravity, the force of attraction. After all, without that, form is formless.You might say magnetism and magnetic fields. Or light; after all it brings life and dispels darkness. You might say Nature, encompassing every solid, growing, moving or thinking object and creature.

So I thought about this listening to an unrelated topic being discussed on my car radio this morning on NPR, my favorite and only station. I hit 1 for  Oldies and Goodies 'cause the topic wasn't hitting me. Classic '60s is my favorite -- that was my youth.

So, the force of attraction, which I think many of us may erroneously just call gravity. Attraction creates a sun of super-compressed gases, then a planet, both with gravity, then gravity and magnetic fields keep them in their orbits. That's my guess anyway. Its scientifically called intermolecular forces of attraction AND repulsion (Wikipedia). And its name sums it up. 

Next? Maybe magnetism. Yeah, that's pretty important. Just like how I met Janet in 1967-- "forces exerted on magnets by other magnets," But many of us are more familiar with it physically as metal to metal. And most things, like plants, copper and plastic, aren't. So magnetism doesn't effect everything directly, but it seems to at least indirectly. Mass has a lot to do with it also, in my opinion.  Janet I reached critical mass and maintained that magnetic field ever since, some moments stronger, some waner, but always there.

Take light, certainly a strong force at 186,000 mps. That's why I think SETI will be much more effective shooting light waves heavenwards instead of radio waves. Radio waves travel at the speed of light, but I don't think they go far enough (any scientists out there?) On earth, I think their limit is 62 miles. (Wikipedia) That's a long, long way from a light year.

Besides, I'm not a fan of SETI right now, even tho I understand the need, and loved Jodie Foster in Contact. Maybe in a hundred years when we have peace and unity of thought and of nations on Earth. I've seen a lot of sci-fi movies like Independence Day with one of my favorites, Will Smith, and the only saving grace was that the invading aliens unified our defenses, at least temporarily. The movie didn't go much beyond Will's and Randy Quaid's successes in defeating them. So who can say mankind will even unify enough to either repel or defeat them, and that we can stay unified?

Well, I believe we will anyway. That'll be a good day to attract superior extraterrestrial beings.

Attraction (gravity), magnetism and light. Would you agree they seem to be the strongest forces right now?

Well if so, or even if not, there's one force that unites them all in my opinion --  Order.

Out of chaos and gas, came attraction; a sun and its light; came planets and gravity as we know it and no real Superman, yet; came magnetism and the Aurora Borealis, Maglev trains, etc.

The common denominator to me is that the molecules, atoms, photons, electrons, Higg's bosons, ad infinitum, combined in billions of fashions just like stars and planets, like Nature and us. 

Out of chaos came Order. Out of evolution and random selection came man and woman, from Homo Erectus to Homo Sapiens on our way to? Why do we seem to forget we're still evolving? Do we think just because we're alive right now, that this is our apex? That time won't change our difficulties into ease, our troubles into joy? (With our efforts.)

We all agree technology is revolutionizing our ordered life on this planet. But to me the masses don't quite see the same abilities in themselves, only a few activists, educators, anthropologists and socialists? But without these higher-level beings, there'd be no order in the family, and no tribe; no tribe, and no city-state; no nation, and no United Nations. And we are really all higher-level beings right now. We can do it!

So to me, Order appears to be the most powerful force in the universe, its overriding purpose and goal. And individuals and society are also the most powerful forces for achieving Order, for mankind's wealth, health, liberty and happiness.

What's the most powerful force to you? In the universe or in your life?

By Rodney Richards