[MD] Intellectual and Social

[Krimel]

> [Krimel]
> If only you could understand what is actually being said to you.
> Bill told you, "Apparently "work" (a function of energy) is
> required to move a random or chaotic system toward an
> ordered design."
>
> Ham, what the fuck do you think sunlight is?

[Ham]
Sunlight is photons emitted by a lesser star.  It is an example of thermal 
energy being dissipated by a cooling universe.  If the thermal energy of a 
system increases, then the random motions of individual atoms or molecules 
increase, raising the temperature of the system.  

[Krimel]
Notice that the sun's thermal energy increases random motion. Less random
motion and we would have a snowball. More random motion and we get seas of
lava. But just the right amount of random motion and we get "Aha" The
relationship between the sun's output and our distance from it, allows a
range of temperature variation in which water can exist in all three states
of matter. We live in a place and time where complex random interactions are
possible. This is not true in most of the rest of the universe and it is
sustained here and now by the constant influx of sunlight. One of the things
we have learned about complex random interactions is that if certain
variables are more or less constant, like the relationship between the
Earth, Moon and Sun, then static patterns can flourish spontaneously. These
are called strange attractors. Obvious examples would be the Jet Stream, the
Gulf Stream, Hurricanes, night and day, seasons, tides etc. These are static
patterns that persist BECAUSE they result from chaotic interaction. As long
as powerful static patterns like gravity and temperature are held in
constant tension (which they do as a result of the random distribution of
matter in the universe) smaller factors like the motion of air and water
molecules settle into patterns of relationship of their own. Adding or
subtracting energy in the system disturbs the balance that supports these
smaller, more dynamic interactions. 

>From an MoQ perspective this means that Static Quality at one level results
from dynamic qualities in the level above and promotes dynamic interaction
at the levels below. On Planet Earth, where I live, sunlight is a dynamic
force that arrives here in static quantities and all life arises as a result
and depends on it to thrive.

[Ham]
However, the total amount of energy in the universe is constant.  
Energy can change form, but it cannot be created or destroyed.  
In physics a force must act over some distance to do "work"; hence 
the equation Work = Force x Distance.  Doing useful work requires 
directed energy.  Since no additional energy has been added to 
the system since the Big Bang, the universe is moving ineluctably
toward entropy.

[Krimel]
In terms of life on Earth, the total amount energy and ultimate fate of the
universe are irrelevant. These factors are of consequence only on scales on
time and space that are far beyond us. If we were not in a static
relationship with them, we could not exist. It is not about the "amount" of
matter and energy in the universe but the distribution of matter and energy
in the universe. And specifically the distribution of matter and energy
right here, right now.