wayneholland.org

 

INSANE OR ECCENTRIC?

August 25, 2005

 

I think it's interesting to compare the psychology of human relationships with the physics of celestial dynamics.

If two bodies in space get close enough a sort of gravitational tension takes effect.  Doesn't the same thing happen when two human beings get close?  Doesn't a psychological field develop?  Isn't it like the attraction of gravity?

When one person gets in another's space (and we actually use this kind of language to talk about it) sometimes there is a form of repulsion.  We say that we were turned off by, or didn't particurlarly care for, them. So far as we know, there is only gravitational attraction, no repulsion, so the analogy seems to break down. 

So far as we know. 

We are (and have been) on the lookout for gravitational repulsion for some time now.  If human relations are any indication, I have the feeling that we will some day find it.  This may sound like a very unscientific thing to say, and maybe it is.  But that's okay.  I'm not out to be scientific.  "Madam, I merely make the observation."

I strongly feel that we are a part of the universe, made from its stuff.  As such, we naturally reflect its dynamic.  As above, so below.  If something goes on in the vast reaches of space, there is a way that it's also going on in the arena of human behavior.  There is actually support for this notion.  Ever heard of Roche's Limit?  I copied and pasted the following from a site called Astronomica.org:

Roche's Limit

Tidal forces are very strong on a body that is very close to a planet. For example, the Moon’s tidal force on the Earth causes the ocean tides. We also know that a planet's tidal forces distort a close satellite more than one farther away. If a satellite spends much time inside a critical distance from a planet, it can actually be torn apart by the tidal forces. The critical distance at which the satellite can be destroyed is called Roche's limit. The distance depends on the density and strength of the bodies, but generally it is about two to three planetary radii out from the center of a planet. Inside this limit, it is difficult for a large satellite to exist. (Spaceships and small satellites less than a kilometer or so in size and consisting of metal, unfractured rock, or ice can exist inside the limit because they have enough effective strength to resist being pulled apart. Larger bodies, given enough time, can stretch plastically until the stresses are so great that they break apart.)

All the italics are mine.  They emphasize the way we use the same kind of language to describe human relationships.  Yes, we are definitely the same as the universe at large, just wrapped up in smaller packages.