Within this installment I hope to communicate the beauty and strength of simplicity, with simplicity. Let's start off with a few quotes:
Occum's Razor: Among competing hypotheses, the hypothesis with the fewest assumptions should be selected. The more simple explanation is more elegant and hence more likely correct = simplicity wins.
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler (...The supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience) - Albert Einstein
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough (all physical theories, their mathematical expressions apart ought to lend themselves to so simple a description 'that even a child could understand them.) - Albert Einstein
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" - Leonardo Da Vinci
“Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.” - Alma 37:6 (Joseph Smith).
At their core, most things are quite simple. As a whole things are very complex. This is why it is often said that there are no simple answers. Complexity arises due to oppositional forces interacting which creates diversity, degrees, and even more sophisticated interactions.
It could be said that the more we discover about the world around us the more we see that all things can be explained by natural means, one thing (principle) influencing and giving rise to many instances or iterations of that principle. The more we learn about the universe and the laws within it, the more we find that there are small, simple, and natural means by which things happen. This is true to some degree. When pursued too far this unchecked reductionism breaks down. The more we understand about nature the more we see that all things appear connected and related, this observation indicates to our mind that some simple principles are possibly at play. Science searches for this unifying theory.
One can ask what the one dimensional strings of string theory are made of - the answer I think is energy. But if this is the case it supports the idea that at their core all things are spiritual (energy) not material (matter) as supported by the scripture D&C 29:34. All things are spiritual and created first spiritually. Matter is simply a manifestation of energy at its core - the one is comprised of the other. We are then at our core as material beings - ultimately spiritual beings.
The energy vs matter relationship can be compared to the mind body relationship. Just as the mind and the body can create synergy. All physical grace and motion begins first in the mind (brain). All physical ability and skill is first held in the mind and nervous system. Many skills become easy once you know how - things appearing easy or simple are usually much harder than they look ( a professional makes it look easy - seem effortless).
It can be said and shown that the more we look at things, the less we understand, and the more complex things appear to become, and the more MORE questions are raised. Cosmology and Quantum Physics come to mind as good examples of this phenomenon.
Let me illustrate this principle of complexity out of simplicity with a small example of a very large thing: Our star the Sun. Stars are formed out of dust, hydrogen dust mostly. There is a predominance of hydrogen out in space, and astronomically huge dust clouds everywhere. Of all the atomic elements hydrogen is the smallest and the simplest. It has one proton and one electron (no neutron). It is the most simple atom of all the elements, the most simple form of matter. Because matter attracts matter, it is within these massive dust clouds that stars are formed via the force of gravity – the weakest of the four known fundamental forces.
Now consider the gravitational force. It is considered a weak force, in fact the weakest of all the four fundamental forces of nature. It is a force that happens between matter (mass) as each exerts its curve on the fabric of space-time. Although Newton's ideas on gravity have been superceded by Einstein's theory of general relativity, the force of gravity is expressed most simply by the following Newtonian equation which still holds true:
F is the force of gravity
G is the gravitational constant, which is a constant because of how consistently matter bends space-time.
m1 is the mass of the first body
m2 is the mass of the second body
r is the distance between the two bodies
Gravity is one of the keys to life (life has so many contingencies) - without matter attracting other matter stars would not form. There would be no creation or transfer of energy and life would not evolve. Gravity is an organizing force that creates complexity and order in opposition to the traditional view of thermodynamics which tells us things tend toward disorder, entropy. There could also be a thing such as spiritual (energy) gravity, this being possibly even the same thing as quantum gravity.
(It is my belief that gravitational attraction works in some way with people too, and that a mathematical equation of this sort can be derived to show how proximity (r) affects interaction in human relations. A person, just by their presence and interaction can be a force in your life, and you have much more influence face to face. It is certainly true that there gravitational force between all physical things, even if it is infinitesimal on a human scale). What brings us together is what we share in common, what drives us apart are our differences. It can also be said that the strange fascination of difference carries a weird sort of attraction, and that the familiarity of sameness is boring driving us to seek novelty.
The weakest force working on the simplest form of matter is the ultimate tale of weakness and simplicity being a force of the greatest importance. I shall now end with three examples of weakness, the small, and how complexity arises from simplicity and opposition. The first being a reiteration of this most important topic - Stars.
Example #1 - Stars:
The weak force of gravity works on these immensely large gas clouds of hydrogen atoms to attract them together, if the gas cloud is large enough we have critical mass wherein the hydrogen atoms are pulled together so strongly at the center that the gas cloud begins to pull in onto itself. Under extreme heat and pressure the hydrogen atoms begin to collide with one another in a plasmic state and nuclear fusion begins, releasing energy in the form of heat and light (photons). This is the birth of a star. Our star the sun is currently burning hydrogen at its core. All life on planet Earth is powered and driven by the sun, which sprung from the simplest of all atoms, and the weakest of all forces. Gravity also creates galaxies, wherein stars are made. Galaxies are a complex ecosystem, again driven be little ol weakling gravity.
This brings up the complexity that arises from these two weak and simple things: Hydrogen (matter) and Gravity. The galaxies and our sun. There is a whole scientific field of study that comprises studying the sun. It is a very complex system. We still have questions on exactly just how it works as for the finer points of its operation. It is studied chaos.
As for atoms and simple hydrogen, we still have many questions about them too. The more we dig down, the smaller we go, the more it escapes us as to the nature of matter. What looks on the surface as something pretty simple and understandable – the hydrogen atom – becomes something very complex and mysterious as we look closer. We find oppositional particles and forces within the atom. At a certain point we exceed the physics of being able to view things, going past the wavelength of of an electron. At this point, Planck scale, theoretical mathematics take over to power Quantum Physics.
A lengthy aside. skip to #2 if you wish; Mathematics is a language, and can be made to express almost anything real or imaginary. There are many ideas coming out of quantum physics that are backed by mathematics making certain predictions about reality, multi-verses, multi-dimensions, etc. One of which comes to mind is string theory, which is not even a theory in the true sense because it cannot be tested or proven empirically. It can only be demonstrated mathematically.
Many of the “theories” and predictions coming out of quantum physics are beyond the scope and scale of what we can physically test, measure, or “see” in any sense. This is the hope of the Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator, to tease out the properties of particles in hopes to detect smaller particles.
Quantum Physics due to its super small unseen nature is rife with the propensity for going off the tracks. We may be wrong in the assumption that we can extrapolate down in space to a dimensional scale so far removed in powers of ten from our scale of existence, and try to apply the same principles on that infinitesimally small scale to what may be applicable on our scale. What make us think that ideas derived from the scale of space we inhabit have any bearing on a realm of things at an infinitesimally small scale of space? Isn't it the same as saying the structure of our solar system is much like the shape and content of the entire cosmos? If we can extrapolate out from the infinitesimal up to our scale and think to be correct should we not also be able to extrapolate further out in the other direction – out to the infinitely large (the cosmos as we best can map it) and apply what we know about the shape, structure, and content of our everyday reality on this scale? I suspect that things may fundamentally change at different scales. Quantum gravity may turn out to be a goose chase. We may also need to alter our views of the macro scale of the cosmos as it relates to gravity.
Example #2 - Life
Now consider life itself. Of all forms of life, the lowest simplest form can be shown to be plant life. It is among the most simple if you include single celled organisms, microbes, and bacteria, thought to be the originator of life and the creator of a habitable atmosphere for animals, namely cyanobacteria and its sequestration of CO2 from the atmosphere. Scientist postulate that the beginning of life is owed to a simple plant – blue green algae – and its ability to capture and harness the energy of sunlight. Without plant life, and its unique ability to conduct photosynthesis, and capture and convey the energy from the sun, all other forms of life on the planet would not exist nor be able to live. Besides geothermal energy within the earth's core, all of the energy on the Earth is derived from the sun. And the energy that life can use is predominantly due to plants being able to capture and store the energy of sunlight – photosynthesis. Plants too can be shown to be very complex systems – there are whole fields of science devoted to plants.
You are alive today because of some very simple and weak things are at work.
Example #3 - Binary Language:
Binary: The binary number system is the most simple numbering system there is, in fact it's barely a number system since it only really includes one number – 1, and the opposite of a number (or quantity) Zero. Zero is not really a number but the absence of number, null, nothing, off. According to Leonard Krauss we may even be wrong in the assumption that zero (nothing) exists as we conceive of it.
Yet from the most simple binary numbering system springs the language that drives all our “intelligent” electronic devices. At the heart of all computer and microprocessor based devices runs the binary language, simple yet elegant and sophisticated enough to give complex instruction to the device on how to behave. Microprocessors aren't just found in computers; they are part of many electronic devices, everything from microwaves to cell phones. These devices thrive on binary because it mirrors the state that an electronic transistor can represent 1=On, 0=Off. Presence vs non presence. Microprocessors today consist of billions of these transistors on the space typically no bigger than a sesame seed. Talk about small. And this density, density being how many transistors we can pack into the same space, is getting higher all the time. By Moore's Law, we know that roughly the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles approximately every two years. From a language standpoint it can be shown that a great complexity arises from this very simple system of entity/non entity – on/off state - Binary Language, arguably the most simple of languages is responsible for the most prolific representation and transference of information today.
There are many more examples within science that speak to the principle of complexity out of simple, small, and weak things and their relationships and interactions. I'd go on but my goal was to keep this simple. I believe that the entire universe is an ironic dance of opposition and relationships - at their core simple and weak. Mankind and human relations are certainly a mirror of this fact.
I suspect that all things are a manifestation of one, two, or very few things in different degrees - a spectrum of diversity spread by oppositional feedback loops.
