First Essay on the First Law of Converso-Dynamics: Society Formulates the Laws According to Which it is Governed (Wisdom Revisited, Part 2)

Although electrons perhaps do not ask the nucleus how they ought to revolve, yet whenever plans are laid out for society, society does in fact attempt to comprehend and adapt to them — and even more: Society actually seeks to, and indeed does, formulate the laws according which it is governed (The First Law of Converso-Dynamics). Electrons do nothing of this sort.

That is a rather simple statement, but it buries an entire mountain of complexity. To extend the analogy completely, we should note that neither electrons nor protons look to anything else to guide their behavior — they behave according to laws which are intrinsic to their nature. In contrast, humans create written laws which exist in space independently of human existence. Of course the interpretation of these laws requires a cognitive capacity which humans attempt to maintain, yet it is not far-fetched to consider a world in which humans are able to build machines which are able to interpret and apply such rules. What is (and remains), perhaps, the human element is the formulation of laws by which we seek to govern human society… and for millenia people have attempted to figure out what motivates humans to formulate the laws used to govern society. Today, there exist nearly as many such explanations as there have been such thinkers.

But let’s not get bogged down by complexity — let’s take a step back and observe what seem to be simple facts. For example, one such simple fact is that the language/s according to which these laws is/are formulated is/are apparently in constant flux. In contrast, once formulated, the laws no longer change over time. Hence, insofar as humans are incapable of recognizing language flux — let alone adapting to it (for which they would have to maintain far more complex structures not only documenting the historical development of language, but perhaps even accomodating their present use of language to the requirements of the future or past language use), the laws and their interpretation will always diverge over time.

There are probably many, many more such simple facts. More immediately, the language any member of society uses to formulate expressions must satisfy a certain degree of conformity to the currently socially accepted grammar of language — in other words: any formulation which reflects “thinking outside of the box” will not be considered. As in this analogy the “box” is roughly equivalent with “language”, and as language (i.e., the box) is in flux (in motion), expressions can — under fortuitous circumstances — be formulated at one point in time and then (as if by osmosis) over time permeate (or “be enveloped”) by the walls of the box at a later point in time. This is, perhaps, what is commonly referred to as “thinking ahead of your time”.

Historically, the formulation of the laws which govern society were apparently formulated by individuals — or small groups of individuals — and were very localized… both in space and in time. With technological developments and advances regarding writing and written language, the formulation is becoming increasingly widespread — again: both in space and in time. This expansion is probably due to intrinsic characteristics of written language (and its development over time). For example, the Magna Carta still exists today — and even after many generations, significant traditions have been carried across many centuries from this document to the present day. Likewise, today many disparate people take part in the formulation of a vast multitude of ideas, which cross-fertilize each other and influence the formulation of laws. Whereas once there were but a few gatekeepers, today there are innumerable portals to the universe of knowledge.

Indeed, the expansion of written language continues its march to eradicate the boundaries of time and space. A single keystroke can traverse the entire globe within a split second, and the storage and retrieval of records from bygone millenia is becoming equally instantaneous. Billions of people now have access to facts, thoughts, ideas, expressions and formulations happening this very moment… and not only do they have access — increasingly, they observe, think, inspire, express, formulate and thereby take part in the production of written language, society and government.

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