Restoring the Balance

“Till now, man has been up against Nature; from now on, he will be up against his own nature.” [43]

Dennis Gabor,
inventor of holography, winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics

Balance is the name of the game in Nature. It is the state to which Nature aspires to bring all its elements. The only reason why any substance or object moves or changes is its “aspiration” to restore balance. That aspiration creates such phenomena as wind, spreading of heat into cooler areas, the flow of water toward lower grounds, and many other phenomena. In living organisms, a state of balance is called “homeostasis” (from Greek, hómoios, “similar” and stásis, “standing still”). Webster’s dictionary defines homeostasis as “A relatively stable state of equilibrium or a tendency toward such a state between the different but interdependent elements or groups of elements of an organism, population, or group.”

We, as different but interdependent parts of Nature, are subject to the law of balance, or “homeostasis,” in our bodies, as well as in our entire population, as defined by Webster’s. That is, humanity is not a distinct entity, but an integrated part of Nature. For this reason, we are subject to all of Nature’s laws in our bodies and in our societies.

On the human level, “being in homeostasis” means expanding our awareness from self-centeredness to social-centeredness and even global-centeredness. We need to increase our consideration of others and our environment, all of which are parts of the system that includes us. The examples presented above illustrate some of the consequences we may suffer if we choose to remain oblivious to our interconnectedness with each other and with Nature.

[43] Quoted in: Laszlo Solymar, Donald Walsh, Lectures on the electrical properties of materials, “Introduction” (UK, Oxford University Press, 1993), xiii