A pair of cloth dice hang vertically from a car’s rearview mirror when the car is stopped or moving at a constant speed. Physicists teach us that acceleration is evident when the fuzzy dice move backward, say in going from 0 mph to 15 mph. The amount of change is irrelevant, and a change from 15 mph to 30 mph still makes the dice swing toward the backseat. Of course, we know acceleration without the hanging dice because we, too, apparently move backward, our bodies pushing into our car seats as we increase our rate along the road. Physicists also teach us that the dice and our bodies, acting as accelerometers, indicate acceleration in the opposite direction as we come screeching to a halt. The dice and our bodies fly forward during rapid “deceleration.” That is, the lesson physicists teach is that varying speed in any direction is acceleration. Rapid deceleration during a crash sends us toward the dashboard; we become accelerometers held in place only by our seatbelts.
For most of our lives we live in an inertial condition of constant speed or constant rest. We get up in the morning and proceed through our daily lives without much acceleration. And then there are those moments when the dice on our personal mirrors move either backward or forward. It’s those moments when we recognize something different about our lives. We pay attention to ourselves during acceleration, waking ourselves from the ho-hum of uninterrupted inertial everydayness.
Granted, there are those among us who prefer inertial conditions, either standing still or moving at a steady rate. But for some, and maybe that includes you, acceleration of any kind makes life more interesting, makes one “feel more alive,” and provides new and interesting perspectives.
Some seek acceleration through chemicals, leading at times to a new inertial condition, one of addiction or dependence in varying degrees. Others seek acceleration in risk taking. Still others seek it in changing place, that is, in travel. Finding a mental mechanism for moving the dice is a challenge we all face, and I assume that you, in reading this, are attempting to accelerate just as I, in writing this, am attempting to accelerate.
In reading, in seeking, in discovering, all of us attempt to break free from inertial conditions. True, we can’t maintain acceleration indefinitely; sometimes we need to coast or even come to complete rest. But, gosh, those moments of speeding up or slowing down make our lives very interesting, don’t they?
Throughout each day, look at the dice hanging from your personal mirror. Are they hanging vertically or swinging forward or backward?
For most of our lives we live in an inertial condition of constant speed or constant rest. We get up in the morning and proceed through our daily lives without much acceleration. And then there are those moments when the dice on our personal mirrors move either backward or forward. It’s those moments when we recognize something different about our lives. We pay attention to ourselves during acceleration, waking ourselves from the ho-hum of uninterrupted inertial everydayness.
Granted, there are those among us who prefer inertial conditions, either standing still or moving at a steady rate. But for some, and maybe that includes you, acceleration of any kind makes life more interesting, makes one “feel more alive,” and provides new and interesting perspectives.
Some seek acceleration through chemicals, leading at times to a new inertial condition, one of addiction or dependence in varying degrees. Others seek acceleration in risk taking. Still others seek it in changing place, that is, in travel. Finding a mental mechanism for moving the dice is a challenge we all face, and I assume that you, in reading this, are attempting to accelerate just as I, in writing this, am attempting to accelerate.
In reading, in seeking, in discovering, all of us attempt to break free from inertial conditions. True, we can’t maintain acceleration indefinitely; sometimes we need to coast or even come to complete rest. But, gosh, those moments of speeding up or slowing down make our lives very interesting, don’t they?
Throughout each day, look at the dice hanging from your personal mirror. Are they hanging vertically or swinging forward or backward?
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