It is true that in the history of human thinking the most fruitful developments take place at those points where two different lines of thought meet. These lines may have their roots in different human cultures, different times, different cultural environments, or different religious traditions.

If they meet; if they are at least so much related to each other that a real interaction can take place, then one may hope that new and interesting developments may follow.

Werner Heisenberg

3.19.2011

TAO 11- TAO, Energy, and Life

Thirty spokes are joined together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that allows the wheel to function.

We mold clay into a pot,

but it is the emptiness inside
that makes the vessel useful.

We fashion wood for a house,

but it is the emptiness inside
that makes it livable.

We work with the substantial,

but the emptiness is what we use.


Although the purpose of life is to efficiently process energy, we miss the point on complexity.  Complexity is efficiency.

Energy from our Sun, our closest source of high quality energy, radiates into space.  That energy continues to radiate until it interacts with something- a hydrogen atom or a celestial body with complex life forms.  Very little energy is changed with the interaction of a hydrogen atom, or a dead rock in space- some minimal absorption and re-radiation as light and heat.  Complex life forms are the most efficient dissipaters of the energy.

Growing a tree uses energy as high quality sunlight.  Cutting it down burns calories from food sources, chopping it into lumber, turning the stump into a bowl on a lathe, burning the scrap in the fireplace- each is a step from sunlight to heat.  It is not the tree or the bowl that is important.  It is the process of energy dissipation that has meaning.  We can’t see the process.

Life is driven by energy dissipation, which is the Tao of Thermodynamics.

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