Week 8: Classical Physics

Newton's Three Laws and Me =)

When I think of Newton's 3 laws I am reminded of how motion of bodies is similar to emotions of people. Take for example if you are in a certain mood, generally that mood will stay unless something changes. Of course things are constantly changing around us just as a body in motion usually interacts with some other force like friction that changes its course or slows it down. Another example would be with the 3rd law, when another person feels a certain emotion, we can often be sponges and feel that emotion and even soak it up and take it within ourselves just as the force of the two colliding objects are exchanged. If someone says something or does something, there will inevitably be some sort of reaction.

Our "energy efficient" culture

I think efficiency should be a hallmark of our culture and economy. I have heard that we could cut our energy consumption in half just through efficiency measures. There is a strange idea these days that to be efficient would mean giving up a comfortable life. I think of efficiency as cutting out waste. Waste meaning the excess that we didn't need in the first place and that we really would not miss or even notice was gone. I feel an important part of energy efficiency is knowing where your energy expenditures are going. This is difficult, because every item of clothing, food, stuff we consume has an energy price tag that is not readily accessible. Our culture is beginning to want more energy efficiency but I think it is having a hard time figuring out how to do it. Also our culture is obsessed with a "cure all". The solutions touted are never thousands of small actions, but instead we wait around for one sweeping solution to all of our problems and in the mean time we sit on our hands. I mean this as a culture generally. There are many individuals that put in and effort to make their impact and that is a wonderful start.