Here I am stuck in traffic, sitting behind the steering wheel waiting for the traffic light to turn green. Few meters away from me, a woman in her 40’s is busy talking on the phone while crossing the street together with the pedestrians as people from the other side of the road wait for their cue to cross the opposite traffic. On my right, a vendor is offering his feather dusters for sale from rushing passersby. Oblivious to everything around her, a mother carrying her sickly child in her arms begging alms from the car next to me. People are everywhere. Everyone is in motion. Each of us minding our own business like we all are dancers on a big stage and each of our movement is part of this grand choreography. However, our choreography was never practiced. We move with spontaneity. We dance how others dance. And they too dance how we dance.
Isn’t amazing how we could be at one place together with all these unknown faces at exactly the same time? What force compels us all to move and be at this specific time and place? Since we are talking about motion and forces it is but natural to refer to Newton’s Law of Motion for some explanation. Law of Motion explains the relationship between the forces acting on a body and its motion due to those forces. However, would this law apply in explaining human behavior? How we interact and influence one another? Please allow me to conduct this futile exercise to answer such questions using Newton’s Law of Motion.
Newton’s First Law of Motion: “Every body persists in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by force impressed.”
“Corpus omne perseverare in statu suo quiescendi vel movendi uniformiter in directum, nisi quatenus a viribus impressis cogitur statum illum mutare.”
If by nature, a body persists in its state of being at rest, then what compels us to move? The answer to such question is simply to provide ourselves with basic necessities for our existence. And what are these necessities? Thru Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, he was able to identify and categorize what these necessities are in order for us to function and survive and these are: Physiological (Food, water, breathing, etc), Safety (employment, property, accommodation, etc), Love and Belonging (Friendship, Family, Intimacy, Religion, etc), Esteem (confidence, respect, etc), and Self -actualization (“What a man can be, must be). Such “needs” therefore, is the force that makes us move. But once in motion, do we all move uniformly as Newton’s First Law describes? The answer is No for each one of us has his or her own needs. However, our needs constantly change, as such; a “force” is also continuously impressed on our lives compelling us to constantly change the path of our movements. We move not always straight forward but because of these changes, we are compelled to change our directions as well.
Man is always in constant motion, driven to fulfill his needs. He sets his path towards the attainment of such needs. However, as he journeys towards his goals and aspirations, with constant changes happening around him, he takes turns which deviates him from moving straight forward. Each turns and changes impact the way he behaves, the way he lives. Newton’s second law may help us understand the impact of such changes (“forces”) in our lives.
Newton’s Second Law of Motion: The change of momentum of a body is proportional to the impulse impressed on the body, and happens along the straight line on which that impulse is impressed.
“Mutationem motus proportionalem esse vi motrici impressae, et fieri secundum lineam rectam qua vis illa imprimitur.”
Our sensor that tells us when changes are happening around us is our emotions. A job promotion can make you feel ecstatic. A death in the family elicits sadness or depression. The sudden need of having your own house triggers desires. Man in general is an emotional being. These emotions coupled with significant events in our lives or desires are processed by the brain. The product of such processing dictates our reactions and our behavior. It is these reactions that may or may not compel us to move in certain directions. It is after such processing that we make decisions. Should I go straight? Should I go left or right? Or should I end it here? The bigger the change or the desire (impulse), the bigger is the impact (change of momentum) to our lives. It therefore agrees with Newton’s Second Law that the impulse is proportional to change in momentum. Now what does this tells us?
In our busy lives, we often neglect to stop and process everything that’s been happening around us. Everything around us moves so fast. Often times, it blinds us to see these changes around us. Yet, our sensor does not fail us. It triggers an emotion but because of our blindness, cannot connect such emotion to a particular event or changes in our lives. If there’s an emotion, there’s a reaction. Being clouded by all these emotions and not having really understood where these are coming from, we react on things irrationally. Reaction changes our behavior. It changes how we relate to other people. And taken to the extreme, it changes the course of our lives. It is therefore critical for us to fully understand our emotions and take time to understand things that’s been going on around us. Am I depressed? Am I happy? Am I jealous? What am I really feeling right now? Acknowledging our emotions is the first step. The next however may be difficult, attributing emotion to situation. This step answers the question WHY? Why am I sad? Why am I happy? Why am I angry? Connecting certain emotions to situations gives us more control on how to handle ourselves, how to take actions and make wise decisions. Change is inevitable. We’ve heard it thousands of times; nothing is permanent in this world except change. And adapting to these changes is inherent to us as human beings or else, we would have been extinct millions of years ago. However, learning to minimize the impact of these changes in our lives is a skill we all need to harness.
Newton’s Third Law of Motion: “To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction: or the forces of two bodies on each other are always equal and are directed in opposite directions.”
Actioni contrariam semper et æqualem esse reactionem: sive corporum duorum actiones in se mutuo semper esse æquales et in partes contrarias dirigi.
In understanding the First Law, we said that each one of us moves in different directions; given that each one of us has his or her own needs. And if each body moves in different directions (not on the same plane /not parallel with each other), these bodies will definitely intersect (meet at one point - this we learned from geometry). Throwing a bit of Chemistry, if we put atoms inside a vessel with each moving in different directions, these atoms will collide (intersect). During this collision, energy is transferred from one atom to another. Applying this basic principle to the topic on hand, the vessel is the world we live in. The atoms represent each and one of us (remember, we are indeed made up of multiple atomic particles) and the collision (intersection) referred to is the interaction we have with one another. Therefore, it is safe to say then that for every interaction we have with another being, there is for certain a reaction elicit from the other being (transfer of energy). This agrees with the third law that for every action, there is a reaction.
This third law I believe should be the guiding principle of each and every one of us when dealing with other people. The message is clear and simple, every time we interact with other people; we transfer a form of energy. We elicit response from them. We influence their behavior. The third law pushes us to be accountable to one another. It makes us responsible why other people manifest certain behaviors. That is the reason why we have to be mindful of our actions, the words we say, the things we do. Wouldn’t be nice to make other people feel good about themselves? Inspire them to be better persons? Or at least make them smile for that one brief moment of interaction? Our interactions with other people is not dictated by destiny but merely of ramdomness. Being in a place with other unknown faces at a particular time is not a matter of choice but of chance. Yet we are given that opportunity to touch other people lives merely out of this randomness. So always be positive. It rubs off on other people. Impart good vibes. You can be the angel that guides people around you to do good, or the devil that seeds hate and anger in this world. It's your choice.
