Entropy: Living with Pain

Our society has become so complacent that the mere idea of discomfort can cause a panic. By the basic laws of physics and entropy, you start degrading as soon as your first cell is formed. Therefore, your pain began the instant your life began, and will not end until your own physical end occurs. Depressing? Welcome to reality. Life is a cyclic process degrading with entropy. More diseases are developing from old strains, more mutations and imperfections are occurring within each generation, and entropy is running rampant within every system and subsystem on this planet

Some would argue that supercooled superconductors have no entropy, but I would disagree. Superconductors have zero resistance along the line, but not all electrons in the flow participate in superconductivity so there is inherent entropy through those particular constituents. As the temperature of a superconductor decreases, more and more of the electrons transition to a state without entropy. At absolute zero, where T=0Kelvin, there is no entropy whatsoever. This phenomenon, however, further described on page 147 of Entropy And Its Physical Meaning  by J. S. Dugdale, is difficult and considered by some to be impossible due to the difficulties in reaching absolute zero, 0K.

The Kelvin scale is based on the idea that 0K signifies a state where a particle has an average energy of zero, while any higher value signifies a higher average energy. Scientists supposedly achieved negative temperature values on the Kelvin scale- previously considered to be impossible- in early 2013 through use of a quantum gas but were soon questioned. To this day scientists are going back and forth on the issue. As more testing is being done and I don’t know a whole lot about it, I’ll just say that IF the negative Kelvin scale is really going to be a thing, then it will have massive ramifications for dark matter theory as relating to black holes (queue star trek music).

Either way, it’s either impossible or impractically difficult to create a superconductor (at this day and age) that has no entropy. Therefore, I think it’s safe to say that a superconductor’s state of entropy can remain in the middle of a physics and philosophical tug of war.

Getting back on track, the world is going to hell in a hand basket, quite literally. Meanwhile, with the development of our current mainstream lifestyle, the popular lifestyle is one that puts affluence and comfort on a pedestal. Historically speaking, it is only in the past few generations that this philosophy has become as culturally invasive as it is currently. Perhaps 100 years ago, the literature did not display the same neediness for attention, gratification, and luxury as is readily available in more current publications. Aldo Leopold, a late 19^th to early 20^th century environmentalist and philosopher said “the modern dogma is comfort at any cost.” This begs the question: “what is that “cost?”’

Today we have thousands of different medications available to the average, well-off person with or without prescriptions. Of these, prescription pain medication alone may fall into one of the following categories:

·        Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS)

·        Corticosteroids

·        Acetaminophen

·        Opiods (Narcotic Analgesics)

·        Muscle Relaxants

·        Anti-Anxiety Drugs

·        Antidepressants

·        Anticonvulsant Drugs

This list (more in depth information here) does not include all prescription pain management drug categories, nor does it account for any nonprescription pain medications such as Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, and Naproxen. All of this goes to say that we have the means and desire to be without pain.

What could this mean? Our bodies are breaking down. We have medications that can make all that pain just magically go away… but should we?

When I was in high school, I had a horrible swim coach. Long story short, I went from being told that I could go to the Olympics to being a slow, bored swimmer with no hope of getting a scholarship. After moving to Alabama and getting a new, better coach, I felt the clock counting down to graduation. I wanted… no… NEEDED a scholarship to swim in college! I swam with paddles on my arms for the duration of every 2 hour practice for 4 months straight to build up my strength, ran a few miles a week, started doing light weights (with no prior training so it was just basic curls and triceps extension type things), and did a core workout for 30-45 minutes every night before bed. I was ripped, I was strong, and I was ready to start competing again.

I crushed my shoulder. There was so much muscle in my arms from over-training that it exacerbated a preexisting condition, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. My shoulder bones collapsed into one another as they could not support the sheer weight of the muscle mass in the thoracic region. After months of punching the side of the pool as I tried to swim and just could not move my arm, blacking out from accidentally moving my arm and waking up crying in a heap on the floor, and not being able to find a pulse in either of my arms I was told that I would need surgery. Long story shorter, I have a third of the original muscle in my right side and the doctor put me on Lyrica because there was irreparable nerve damage done during the surgery.

About the same time that I got diagnosed with lupus and fibromyalgia, the subsequent joint swelling became so bad that I could not walk in the mornings. I would intentionally set my alarm for 20 minutes before I actually had to get up so that I could gradually get up without blacking out from pain. My rheumatologist put me on a relatively low dosage of a cytotoxic chemotherapy drug to help with the severe swelling and I was once again able to walk. I was only 20 years old and taking chemotherapy with no perceivable end in sight, not a joyful thought at all.

You might be wondering why this is such a big deal. A little pain medication and chemo and I’m suddenly able to tie my own shoes and walk in the mornings, right? Wrong. Medications cloud your head, make you gain weight, and control your life. I was still expected to perform as though nothing was wrong (if it’s an invisible disease it doesn’t exist, amiright).

After consulting a doctor and nutritionist, I began an extremely restrictive anti-inflammatory diet approximately 9 months ago. I began weightlifting almost a year and a half ago. Due to these things, I noticed that my ability to walk and move without pain increased dramatically and the chronic pain from the lupus and fibromyalgia eased as well. As such, I told my doctor that I wanted off of the chemo and pain medications. Today I am 2 months free from chemo and almost a week free from the Lyrica.  

What’s my point with all of this? I’m in more pain now than I was before refusing to be on the chemo and Lyrica any longer. It’s less comfortable to walk or move my shoulder. This being said, I’m free from the constraints of those horrible things. Since starting to come off of the chemo, I’ve dropped 30 lbs in 3 months. My eyes are no longer dull and lifeless, but are starting to brighten. I’m no longer 10 seconds behind in a conversation, I’m able to keep up in class, and I am starting to feel less like a complete moron. I took control of my situation and accepted that, despite my personal entropy, LIVING my life was worth more to me than being comfortable.

It isn’t easy to wake up early and go running and weight lifting every day. It isn’t easy to prepare every meal from scratch. It isn’t easy to go to other people’s houses or restaurants and not be able to eat a single thing there. What is easy though, for the first time in years, is my smile.

Entropy is everywhere, inescapable, and there are ways to dull that pain. But sometimes, the pain is what makes life worth living. It’s constant. But it’s also a constant reminder of what I’ve overcome. 

0th to 4th Dimension: Mathematics and Philosophy

Mathematical Introduction

If you stick with this I promise there’s a point at the end!

 0-Dimension:

In geometry, the zero-dimension is a point. A point is an infinitesimally small marker of a specific location with no accompanying volume, height, width, or length. It has no external or internal properties aside from its current location. Several zero-dimensional points may be set in series to create a larger object, such as a line or square, but the object is itself, in its most basic form, a zero-dimensional construct.

1-Dimension:

One-dimensional objects are created from an infinite number of zero-dimension points strung together. The resultant is a line segment. This product, as its title’s numeral designation indicates, has but one property: length. Several one-dimensional line segments may be joined to create a greater whole categorized within a higher dimension, but that object will always be able to be broken down into its one and zeroth-dimensional constituent parts.

 

2-Dimension:

Two-dimensional objects are created from a collection of line segments connected such that they create a flat plane. As such, these may also be broken down into an infinite number of zeroth-dimension constituents. As indicated by the title, two-dimensional objects hold two properties, length and width. Several two dimensional objects can be combined to create a higher-dimensional object that can always be broken down into its smaller contributing parts.

3-Dimension:

Three-dimensional objects are made from several two-dimensional planes connected to create a greater whole that has flat planes extending in degrees off of three basic x-y-z planes. More simply, a 3D object is like a collection of flat planes such that it may be picked up rather than being a plane with no thickness. This dimension has three properties, length, width, and height. Although rarely discussed in high school and many collegiate courses, three-dimensional objects may also be combined to create a new product that may be categorized under a higher dimension.

 

SPECIAL CASE: Circle/Sphere with the same dimension (radius)

Circles and spheres are interesting subsets within two and three-dimensional special sets. This is due to the fact that, for these shapes, all of the dimensions are the same. For example, for circles, the length and width dimensions are replaced by a constant radius coming out of a single origin point. For spheres, the length, width, and height dimensions are replaced by a constant radius.

Beyond a circle and spherical ability to combine multiple dimension types into one, spheres may be used to generalize shapes within all dimensions. This is done through application of something called the “N-Sphere.” An n-sphere is a way to describe dimensions using a generic sphere. For example, a 0-sphere is the set of points on the edges of a 1-dimensional line segment. A 1-sphere is the outer shape, or circumference, of a circular, 2-dimensional flat plane. A 2-sphere is the outer shell of a 3-dimensional sphere. As can be interpolated from the above information, any n-sphere can be described as the surface or shell of a (n+1)-dimensional shape. A 4-sphere can also be called a “quaternionic projective line.” In a nutshell, quaternions are a set of numbers that combine real and complex numbers into sets denoted by “H.” A quaternionic projective line, or 4-sphere, is a smooth, topological shell of the complex quaternion set in question.

EG:         H = a*1 + b*i + c*j + d*k where i, j, and k = √1

This is a 4-sphere depiction of a ring of quaternions. For more information on how this was generated through a sphere-stacking study, click here.

For easier notation, any n-sphere with n<3 is called a “hypersphere,” a 3-sphere can be called a “glome,” and a “unit n-sphere” is simply a sphere with a radius of unity (1) and denoted Sⁿ.

Why do we care about n-spheres? As shown above by the hypersphere, glome, and 4-sphere examples, n-spheres are an interesting example of how circles and spheres are not only a unique geometric phenomenon due to their measurements but also can be used to summarize complex, high-dimension objects and ideas into more understandable, workable forms. This also allows for a much simpler way to calculate the volume and surface areas of higher dimension objects, as is shown in the figure below.

 

4-Dimension:

It is interesting to note that, to this point, all of the dimensions have been strictly lengths. The fourth dimension combines the concept of solid three dimensional space with the 4^th dimension, generally considered to be time. This allows for transient (changing with time) analysis. For example, it is through the fourth dimension that changes in position, volume, length, width, etc. can be studied with respect to time. One example of this is the Continuity Navier-Stokes Equation that relates changes in the velocities in x, y, and z defined as u, v, and w with respect to the x, y, and z distance coordinates and changes in time in order to find the properties of continuous motion of a fluid.

Navier Stokes Continuity:               dρ/dt + (d(ρu))/dx + (d(ρv))/dy + (d(ρw))/dz = 0

Philosophical Application:

What is science without art? What is music without wavelengths, amplitude, and frequency? You can’t have one or the other and still be a balanced person, it’s best to learn how to see the science in philosophy and the philosophy in science.

               “What can you possibly pull from a bunch of points, lines, planes, and squiggles?” you might think. While I could sit here and make a billion jokes about thinking outside the three-dimensional polyhedron or some such nonsense, I could also describe a phenomenon that appears quite often in our society today.

A lot of people are content with living day-to-day, in the moment, and are focused on being “happy” with themselves. They simply exist where they are, not moving in a significant manner forward or looking far into the future. This is reminiscent of the zeroth dimension. People like this are perfectly alright with simply existing. For example, they never really put a lot of effort into the mental, physical, or spiritual growth necessary for a well-rounded, healthy person.

There may be somewhat limited expansions and variations on this theme in which people work to some degree, perhaps just getting by in school and work but never truly pushing themselves to the max. These people are reminiscent of the first, second, and/or third dimensions in which there is freedom to move, but still no motion within the time. This limitation shows how people today are not willing to make plans for the future and put in the hours and effort to make their dreams a reality.

People living with a “fourth-dimension” mindset have an understanding that, while life consists of the day-to day living and singular moments, those are simply the smallest components of a greater whole. Much like an atom is the most basic building block of the universe, a moment is the most basic building block of a lifetime. A forward-thinking person will take each moment as an opportunity to advance their future. They will spend their life with the mindset that, were they to die right at that moment, they would not be caught at rest, being lazy, or wasting time. While a person living in a lower-dimension lifestyle might desire a better life and may even work a little to that extent, a person living a fourth-dimension lifestyle will work till their very last breath to ensure the completion of their goals. Much as the mathematic fourth dimension has motion in time, the corresponding people-group will also work over time to make their dreams a reality.

Each day presents unique opportunities that can alter the course of your entire life. A person might choose to be stagnant and live simply for the enjoyments of that day alone, or they can choose to be cognizant and willing to work for those opportunities. Because really. What’s cooler? An “infinitesimally small point with no distinguishable dimension” or a set of many variables moving, adapting, and changing with time? One sounds a lot more fun than the other.

“Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.” ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Living with Lupus: Dealing with Morons

               This past semester has been a struggle.  I have been judged by my peers in multiple different ways and multiple situations.  Many times I've considered giving up, leaving, and essentially hiding from everyone that causes me pain and turmoil.  Did I? No.  Was it easy? No.  Why didn't I just quit? Because the opinions of morons and potential limitations I face won’t ever hold sway over my life and how I choose to live it.

               The first notable situation I can recall was at a church choir rehearsal.  I asked for prayers for my health as I was becoming very ill from fibromyalgia and lupus.  After the practice, I was approached by several women who, despite their kind intentions, made scarring remarks.  They told me “You’re too young for lupus,” “Are you SURE it’s lupus,” and my personal favorite: “I know a lady with lupus!!! She died… and it was horribly painful for her and nasty for us to watch!”  HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO THAT?!?!?!  What I wanted to do was tell them that no, I’m not too young, my SPECIALIST is darn sure I have lupus, and that comments like those are why people become Baptist.  What I did say was “Thanks for your prayers” and just walked away. Benjamin Franklin said that “It is ill-manners to silence a fool and cruelty to let him go on.”  There may be no perfect solution to handling a situation like that.

               The second situation that stands out in my mind was when I was in class with a professor. As stated in a previous post, I had a Non-Epileptic Seizure (NES) in that professor’s class.  Approximately a week after the test, I went to him and asked to retake it or have extra credit and was told “No!!! It wouldn’t be fair to the other students.”  After hearing that, I asked “Why?”  He walked away very quickly so I couldn’t keep up with him.  Later that month, that same professor told me that I should drop out of school because I was intentionally killing myself by being in school.  He tried to convince me that it was MY fault that I’m sick and that I was basically committing suicide by being in school… and as such it was my fault that my grades were so low.  What I wanted to do was cry and blow my lid and report him.   What I did was choose to forgive and say “Thank you for your advice sir” and walk away.  Hermant Smarty wrote that “forgiveness doesn’t excuse their behavior.  Forgiveness prevents their behavior from destroying your heart.”  I was traumatized by his treatment of me and it cost me months of health, panic attacks, minor stress-induced seizures, and caused my illness to progress irreparably.  The healing began when I realized that dwelling on stupidity is not worthy of me risking my health and happiness.

               Last but not least, the third situation happened just before my last final in the course taught by the aforementioned professor.  I took that final through testing services by the direction of Disability Services.  As I was sitting in the waiting room with several other disabled students, one turned to me and asked me what was wrong with me.  After that, all of the other students there turned to me with the same question.  They told me that I looked “too normal” and that I didn'tbelong there with them.  They pressed hard and kept asking until I blurted out a random answer.  Some there may not have meant to be cruel… but the remarks from some present hurt.  You see, their disabilities were more visible than mine.  They didn't understand that invisible illnesses can be just as invasive but in a different manner than more visibly noticeable illnesses.  Do I blame them for their questioning? Not really, it’s a common misconception.  Does it still hurt to hear that?  Oh definitely.  Martin Luther King Jr. once said “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.”  Invisible illnesses can be alienated and occasionally mocked by people with more obvious problems.  I am blessed to not be marked physically, but it does not lessen the trauma or pain that ensues.

               In summary, people don’t understand what you’re going through and some absolutely don’t care.  The important thing to remember is that it doesn't matter what they think because people like that are wrong.  My family has a saying that “it’s a waste of time to argue with an idiot.  In their mind they’re always right.”  It’s a horrible translation of a segment of Bacchae by Euripides: “Talk sense to a fool, and he calls you foolish” but still accurate.

To those who have family/friends dealing with an invisible disability:

               You won’t understand.  You won’t see what they’re dealing with.  You may never know what to say.  The important thing is to BE THERE.  The day after I was diagnosed with lupus, 80% of my school friends just stopped talking to me.  That percentage includes the guy I was “talking to” at the time.  People are cruel when they don’t understand things and while walking away may seem to be the easiest way to handle disabled friends it is the most heart-wrenching, cruel, hateful thing to do to someone in such a vulnerable state.  Don’t be that guy!

To those dealing with an invisible disability:

Karen Ravn wrote “Only as high as I reach can I grow/Only as far as I seek can I go/ Only as deep as I look can I see/Only as much as I dream can I be.”

               It’s rough.  It’s not impossible.  Don’t let what you’re dealing with today cloud your perception of yourself.  It isn’t your fault and you should never give up.  If people leave you then they aren’t worth it.  The people who remain and accept you for who you are the best, most love-worthy friends.  People will try to beat you down!  Get used to it and work your butt off.  The best feeling ever is when you accomplish something that you were told was impossible for you! Philippians 4:13 says “I can overcome all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Go overcome. 

When struggling with hardships, I turn to Psalms 11.  In it, David is describing his emotions in response to his son, Adonijah, having declared himself King and stealing his father’s kingdom from him.  The first part of the psalm shows pain, depression, and deep emotional trauma.  The response at the end of the psalm, however, shows the strength given to those who have faith in God and his meaning for our lives.  I leave it to you to read about how David’s life, while riddled with sin, returned to faith in God and was used to build a foundation for Solomon, Judaism, and eventually Jesus Christ Himself. Anyways… contemplate!

 Psalm 11 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Lord Is in His Holy Temple

To the choirmaster. Of David.

11 In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
    “Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
    they have fitted their arrow to the string
    to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
3 if the foundations are destroyed,
    what can the righteous do?”[a]

4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
    the Lord's throne is in heaven;
    his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
5 The Lord tests the righteous,
    but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 Let him rain coals on the wicked;
    fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
    the upright shall behold his face.

Hope: Living With Lupus

This past week did not do as well as I prefer on a test.  Did I know the material?  Mostly, yes.  Was I prepared?  I believe I was.  What happened in-between my pre-test coffee with a friend and walking through that classroom door?  Something I can’t control, anticipate, or stop. 

                My heart started racing.  It hurt to breathe, my chest felt like it was being pulled apart with every shallow breath.  My hands started shaking to the point that I could not grip the pencil.  Words danced in front of my eyes, legible but I couldn’t comprehend their meaning.  I started to burn up, feeling every nerve ending firing away as though it was their last stand.  Guess what?!  I didn't do so hot.

                Is it my fault that I couldn’t read or write? Yes and no.  It’s my body so I’m responsible for what I do, regardless of the situation.  On the other hand, I couldn’t control what was happening.  Can you imagine what it’s like to be sitting in a classroom shaking uncontrollably and just KNOWING that you could do nothing to help yourself?  It’s terrifying and humiliating.  I remember running to the bathroom after time was called and retching from the stress being placed on my body.  I was physically and mentally exhausted, and spiritually drained.

                That day was the stuff of nightmares.  The professor has since told me that he cannot help me, and to reconsider my career choice. While I absolutely refuse to do that and take EXTREME offense, I am not certain that I will not be sick during the next exam.   I'm a Christian.  I'm a weightlifter.  I am smart.  I am ridiculously stubborn.  I will not be bullied by the world or by my own body.  I know that I'm skilled, highly intelligent, and extremely qualified to be an engineer.  I will always fight.  I know that I can get through that class and school easily if I can maintain my health.

                What do I fear?  I fear that people won’t see the hard work I put into my health and school, but only see a person who’s always tired, about to black out, and is unable to do extracurricular things because she’s scared for her health.  Lupus, fibromyalgia, and thoracic outlet syndrome have tried to take away the physical things I love: health, strength, memory.  My biggest struggle is to not let fear over-rule my life.

                The question of the hour is “how does one deal with that amount of stress and worry?”  I can honestly say that I don’t know the best way.  What I do know is that someday, my problems will be able to help someone else.  The pain I endure now, while I know it will only get worse, is worth something.  Perhaps it will help another person enduring a chronic disease to maintain their faith in God, and believe that there is hope at the end of the day.  I don’t know what God has planned for me, but the only way I can handle the pain and fear is knowing that somehow God has a plan to use me for His purpose.  He is molding me into someone who can serve Him in a unique way, a way that I may not fully understand yet. 

                Romans 8:18 says that “The pain that you’ve been feeling can’t compare to the joy that’s coming."  While I may not always feel like there’s hope, I KNOW that this is not the end of the line for me.  Faith is a fact, not a feeling.  God has made me to be a fighter and so I will fight on.  My life will not be defined by this disease, despite the limitations forced upon me.  I will never stop fighting the uphill battle of my life, and can only hope that someday, someone somewhere will look at my life and appreciate the struggle I have endured and respect me for it while realizing that it was God working through me.  I pray that through my life God will work to show others that there is a way to push through and not just survive, but LIVE. 

               I find that more aged hymns tend to encapsulate my feelings best.  One such hymn, written in 1874 by Frances Havergal, really hits home.  It is based on Romans 12:1, which says “herefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”  Below are the lyrics and video of a vocalized version.  I hope that this touches your heart and gives you hope as it does me. 

Take My Life and Let It Be

Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
*Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise.

Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice and let me sing,
Always, only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.

Living with Lupus: Physical Aspects

What people say vs what you hear/they mean:

              

           With lupus and fibromyalgia, the disorders and the medications to treat them cause skin imperfections, weight gain, and joint swelling.  I personally spend 2 hours weightlifting with another hour of card cardio 5-6 days a week, eat an anti-inflammatory diet, and have my entire day planned and organized such that my stress level is minimized to maximize my health.  Do people see that time and energy poured into maintaining a healthy weight and keeping my immune system from breaking down my body any further? Of course not, they only see me as a not-skinny, lazy person who needs to work harder.

               My diet is designed to minimize the amount of inflammation in my joints from the fibromyalgia, lupus, and arthritis that ravages my bones.  I have to avoid dairy, eggs, all meat, potatoes, peppers, eggplant, and any hydrogenated fats.  Essentially, I’m being forced into veganism.  When people find out about that, they don’t see a person who has to eat healthy, tasteless, boring CRAP, they see a hippy who considers themselves to be better than everyone else.  I don’t think that, my diet makes me miserable.  I hate being a burden on the people around me, I miss bacon, I miss cheese, and I really miss being able to just sit down and eat a nice baked chicken breast for supper when I feel like it.

               I weight-lift almost every day, getting to the gym at 7 and leaving at 10am.  Due to a shoulder surgery that removed about 2/3 of my right shoulder, I have many handicaps.  Despite this, I can bench-press 155 lbs, military press 105 lbs, squat 205 lbs, and deadlift 225 lbs.  I run when my arthritis allows, and run on the elliptical for at least an hour before weightlifting.  Does it help? Yes!  My medications and medical problems cause most people to gain 40lbs, which I have avoided.  I maintain a healthy figure, but I pour enough heart and will into my exercise that I should look like a bodybuilder.  Is that fair? No.  Do people see that? No, they don’t know the constant work I put into looking as healthy as I do.

               What’s the lesson to learn here?  If you don’t know someone, don’t judge their appearance.  There are medical conditions that can make someone look less “perfect” despite any effort made in contradiction.  Be conscientious, be considerate, be caring.

Bartram: Naturalism Points to Christian Salvation

"The higher powers and affections of the soul are so blended and connected with the inferior passions, that the most painful feelings are excited in the mind with the latter are crossed; thus in the moral system, which we have planned for our conduct, as a ladder whereby to mount to the summit of terrestrial glory and happiness, and from whence we perhaps meditated our flight to heaven itself, at the very moment when we vainly imagine ourselves to have attained its point, some unforeseen accident intervenes, and surprises us."  William Bartram

         Bartram, a naturalist at the end of the 18^th century and beginning of the 19^th, makes some interesting points in this statement: He notes the irreversible connection between a man’s soul and his sinful, broken human nature. The result of the two being contained within the same vessel is a constant, inescapable crossing between the two.  He stipulates that, if the two are placed at odds, the result is a painful emotional response.  This response could be remorse, anger, guilt, etc.  For example, if a person makes a mistake or wrongs another, his conscience or soul is at odds with his sin nature. 

         According to the passage, the general morality system to which mankind aligns its actions, is an institution by which we try to reach a type of enlightenment or higher state of being.  Morals are, to a person in pain from his sins, a way to escape his sins through being “good.”  This code is often used with the goal of attaining absolution and a “flight to heaven” after perfect compliance with generic morality standards. 

         The conclusion of this passage takes a darker tone.  After taking us to an emotional high with references to a correlation between heaven and good deeds, Bertram takes us back down to reality.  Man’s human nature is, after all, ever dragging us down as said in the previous statements about “inferior passions.”  Due to our sin nature, a perfect life is not attainable.  A person might get a temporary euphoria from doing a good deed and believe him/herself to have attained perfection, but it is short-lived.  Our human inclination is to sin, and therefore it is impossible to achieve nirvana, good karma, absolution, or any other type of morality-based salvation.       

While Bartram held the naturalist worldview that only the laws of nature govern the world and there is no supernatural influence, this statement spans worldviews for its analysis of the connection between a soul and sin actions.  I leave it to the reader to perceive the origin of true salvation but my conclusion is that salvation is through the Judeo-Christian God who, when asked, forgives your sins and accepts you into Heaven through faith in Jesus Christ).  As far as Bartram’s beliefs, based on his statements on the impossibility of attaining salvation through works consider this:

Can you really be saved from yourself by yourself?

Cavitation: How Bubbles Cause Massive Destruction

            Cavitation.  Not a cavity in your teeth, but an extremely powerful, destructive, explosive bubble of high-pressure gas that can destroy even the strongest of metals.  My guess is that you haven’t heard of it..  Often invisible, this occurrence can tear apart rockets and other high-powered liquid fuel projectiles.  

A vacuum pressure is any pressure that is below the atmospheric pressure (approximately 14.7 psi).  Cavitation is a vacuum force that can be up to approximately -15954 psi (Pounds per square inch) of pressure given a water flow at about 100⁰ C.  For a comparison point, a generic Air-Gun (pellet gun) operates at about 800 psi, a paintball gun operates at about 4,496 psi, and the average human blood pressure is between about 1.5 and 2.3 psi.  Obviously, this is a powerful force with immense destructive capabilities.

A vacuum can be formed from water flowing at a high pressure through a pipe, an orifice of a smaller size and/or shape than the original pipe, and back into the larger pipe diameter.  When the water is forced at a high speed through said orifice, it can cause a turbulent flow on the far side of the orifice.  As the flow lines go into the larger diameter again, a vacuum is formed in the corners of the pipe as a result of the water being forced to burst at a high pressure through the small orifice.  Temperature is a form of energy output.  When the pressure changes in the water flow occur the water absorbs and releases the energy resultant from the pressure changes.  This results in rapidly changing temperatures in the water as it flows through an orifice.  Essentially, the change in the pipe shape causes a rapid and drastic pressure and temperature change in the water flow.

                           

It’s pretty common knowledge that a high temperature can cause a liquid to boil.  However, it is less well known that a high pressure can also cause a liquid to boil.  The increased pressure breaks the polar covalent bonds holding water molecules together and causes the liquid to vaporize. 

Cavitation is a phenomenon that happens when a pressure is lower than the liquid’s vapor pressure.  This can be seen when a high pressure rapidly releases into a low pressure region.  The rapid change in pressure can cause vaporization of the water to occur, causing bubbles to form.  These bubbles grow in size and, at a certain point, shrink and implode, releasing a high amount of energy into the surrounding area. The shrinkage is a result of the low pressure bubble being surrounded and pressed upon by a high-pressure surrounding region.  This phenomenon is called “Bubble Fusion,” or “Sonofusion.”  It is a hypothesis that a nuclear fusion reaction happens inside of extraordinarily large vapor bubbles that collapse after cavitation.  

These bubbles can flow out with the water and cause minor to major instability in the water, called a turbulent flow.  Turbulent flow can cause the water to release in spurts or randomized flow lines.  If the purpose of the liquid flow is to service an engine of some kind, the unstable flow can result in inconsistent combustion of the fuel.  In a rocket, this can cause the flight path to be altered because the combustion occurs in spurts and/or lessen the altitude that the rocket might reach.

The second way cavitation can cause problems happens if the bubbles get trapped in a pocket around which the flow lines go.  When the temperature decreases or liquid pressure surrounding the bubbles increases, the bubbles collapse in on themselves.  The energy release from the implosion is a shock wave that, when occurring repeatedly, causes a cyclic stress on any nearby surface.  Over time, this constant strain on a material can do damage to the point that it can burst under high pressure.  If this were to occur in an engine, it runs a major risk of explosion.  On a more positive note, cavitation can be used as a cleaning agent.  The shock waves loosen and remove any contaminants or particles on a surface and allow for a very intensive cleaning.

               Long story short, it really is the little things in life!  You can look at the “Big-Picture” all day long, but your amazing, futuristic, over-arching plans can be easily demolished by something on the atomic-level.