The Law of Conservation
Sep 1st, 2007 | By | Category: Articles
I dedicate this article to my friends who inspired me to write this. This article uses the quotes of Albert Einstein in italics.
The Law of Conservation for Energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can change its form thus the total quantity of matter and energy available in the universe is a fixed amount and never any more or less.
Mathematically: E = mc2
A lay person may not be able to understand the literal meaning of these symbols and maynot, even in the general sense, understand the theory of which these words and symbols are an expression, unless he or she has an understanding of physics. In effect, this would seem to mean that, as this law can only be shared between the experts, no one who is not already an expert can begin to understand it. Each of these symbols, is a crystallization of the thoughtful concept of mathematics which though abstract, nevertheless relates directly to the events and objects of the real world.
The same fixation can be applied for all the basic phenomenon of universe: energy, matter, light and time. Einstein’s law can be seen as a mystic law because it explains the mutually inclusive relationship of life and all phenomena.
“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest… a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
The broader aspect of conservation can be applied to relationship, wealth, action and thoughts. This cycle makes the cause and its effect a continual process in which the latter follows the former. It works like a chain reaction in which every effect becomes an essential parameter for next cause and with every step it becomes even more complex.
Though this belief in science dominates our society yet most of us are inconsistent in our attitude towards cause and effect. They accept it only as far as they see it operating… if something happens whose cause is not obvious or can’t be discovered even after a lengthy investigation, causality is still often replaced by the idea of chance, coincidence, magic or God. For example there seems to be no apparent cause for people to suffer from accidents. If someone is struck by lightening, most people would consider that person to be either simply unlucky or singled out by God for some reason for that particular fate. The inability to discern cause and effect in all phenomena has led a number of religions and philosophers to figure out that God must exist.
Many people seem to be at transitional phase, believing in cause and effect when it can be proved beyond all doubt, and disregarding it when it cannot. It is absolutely illogical, however, to assert that cause and effect can exist at one moment and not at the next.
"As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, as far as they are certain; they do not refer to reality. The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible."
"Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts." (Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton)
Even so, there are certain aspects of life which do seem to operate outside the pattern of cause and effect. Why should two people exposed to exactly the same set of conditions and influences in life turn out completely differently? The conservation view in broader aspect explains this by taking into consideration of two things one the inherent causes and the latent effects.
As in the external world people understand that cause comes first and effect comes later, sometimes the two can be very close, for example turning a light switch on can produce almost instant illumination even though the electric current may travel so fast that it appears to reach the light bulb instantly, its speed is actually finite as a result there must be fraction of a second between the cause – taping the switch – and the effect – illumination. At the other end of time scale, cause and effect can be separated by years. Thus in planting an acorn we are making the cause for an effect to occur at some time in future; this complete effect, a mature fully grown oak, we may not even live to witness.
On the longer time scale, the appearance of human life on this planet came about as a result of causes that stretch back certainly as far as the beginning of solar system, if not further into the eternal past. No matter how long or short the the delay between cause and the manifestation of its effect, the existence of latter can never be denied. In this sense, then cause and effect is usually regarded as linear, in that the one thing leads to another in an unbroken line of relationship through time.
“I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I nor would I want to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egoism, cherish such thoughts. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature.”
Inherent causes, along with external causes, make the extent of latent effects so big that they manifest in our lives. There is no other hypothesis on this earth which explains this sequence as beautifully as the Einstein's does. The hypothesis thus proves that true enlightenment lies in acting wisely . To conclude the article following quote is appropriate.
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."
Profound skepticism is invited at rohit@themag.in
