The Sustainability Principle
 of Energy

 

Home   First draft Aug  2010

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  Online Etymology Dictionary

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The Power of Symbols

What is a Prime Symbol?

Variations on the Wisdom Of Confucius

How to Conserve
the Potential

The Human Condition

General Theory

Practical Application

Index of Denial/Acceptance

The Joys in 
Acceptance
Are you vulnerable to denial?
Review Call
Evaluate your
teachers /media
The Compassionate Curriculum
 
Defining some Prime Symbols

Energy

Energy Efficiency

Power

Electricity

Greenhouse

Warming/Cooling

Science

Information

Carbon

Atmosphere

Climate Change

Exponential
Trace

Potential

Compassion

Conserve

Sustain
Environment
Market
Peak Oil
Conservation 
Principle of Energy
Use
Up/Down
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Definition: the up and down symbols

 

The up and down symbols are deceptively potent. They are quick and easy to say and write. Both the up and down symbols feature in the 100 most used English words and are employed in a multitude of ways. They can add a whole extra dimension to a communication. Thus when we fail to employ these simple potent symbols to  evoke awareness of that dimension we can be sure some form of deep denial of stewardship/change exists in us.

Up and down are powerful indicators of the nature of change. They promote awareness that a change of state could happen and that an object is about to be transformed.  They are indicators of risk and strike deep chords in us. 

In general the up symbol points to an increase in activity or heightened potential while the down symbol points to a decrease in activity or lowered potential.

For instance, if the wind is speeding up then it is accelerating. It is not just speeding and a constant velocity and force. It is gaining force exponentially. The rate of transformation of our world is likely to increase. The converse occurs if the wind is slowing down.   

Like all things, life exists because a certain balance in the rate of transformation or change exists. For instance, human beings exist because we are a unique amount of activity. The windless state and tornadoes puts life forms equally at risk.

From a thermal perspective, all things in the universe(s) are subject to constant warming and cooling. Thermal energy is continually transferred from warmer regions to cooler regions. We use the temperature symbol to measure the rate and nature of the change. 

If the rate of warming of an object is balanced by the rate of cooling then its temperature remains constant and object tends to retain its form. We exist in our human form because the activity of our body is a relatively constant 37ºC. Life as we know it on Earth because the activity at its surface averages a relatively constant 15ºC. 

Any change in the rate of activity of either our body or our planet is a cause for concern. It heralds a change of state. A whole new dimension occurs if the temperature ceases to be constant and starts going up or down. We have to alter and adapt our activities in order to survive in our current form. The up and down symbols provide vital signals for this behavioural change. 

Our Anglo-American culture fails to employ these two vital symbols and thus puts humanity at great risk. Weather experts, educators, media and policy makers alike confuse the global warming symbol with the global warming-up symbol. An increase in activity at Earth’s surface is described as global warming, which is a profound denial of the fact that increasing thermal activity of the Earth’s surface presages a life threatening change of state. Ultimately this failure to employ the up symbol reveals a denial of stewardship/change and our role in the fundamental thermodynamics of the universe(s). 

Summary

Conserve the potential of the up and down symbols by using them appropriately whenever our measures of an object indicate its rate of change is no longer constant and is either increasing or decreasing. They add extra, vital dimensions to our awareness of existence. 

 

Enjoy the rewards of being a conservator of the potential of our greatest symbols.

 

Page last  updated: Aug 2010

 

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