Equilibrium: Word I Live By
One word has been my new year's resolution 2 consecutive years. That's enough.
I have long thought to start writing. Now more than ever, I believe it is crucial I did. Perhaps most other people should start writing in some way or the other. I have become a little too dependent on generative AI in the past couple months. I’ve been rationalizing it: “This course work is a lot of grunt work” or “I need to let my ideas flow better”. While I agree with it still, that dependency should not subsume my thoughts into its own.
What is more fitting than to write about a word that has been fascinating to me since I first heard it? I’m sure there’s something, but I got to start somewhere.
Okay this is going to get a little science-y but stick with me. Please. However, if you really want to skip over I will still try to make it make sense.
Science starts
I first heard of the word ‘equilibrium’ in 11th grade Chemistry class. I loved what entailed. Mostly the philosophical parallels though, not the chemistry stuff. Who likes that?
You know how salt or ‘sodium chloride’ is made? Probably not off the top of your head, but maybe you know that salt is NaCl, which means Na and Cl react together, right?
It’s not balanced, but you get it. What if I told you that not all reactions are as straightforward? What if I told you that a lot of reactions in your middle school textbooks were wrong? Well not completely wrong, just wildly oversimplified. Even the one above, even after it’s balanced.
A lot of reactions actually go 2 ways. Now think there are two chemicals ‘A’ and ‘B’. Put together they make chemicals ‘C’ and ‘D’. Essentially:
But what if I told you that ‘C’ and ‘D’ put together make ‘A’ and ‘B’. Essentially:
Bet this is already getting a little out of hand. So I’m gonna do you a favour. Let’s get rid of ‘B’ and ‘D’. That ought to simplify things. So now:
So A makes C, and C makes A, and on and on it goes? Even I’m going to oversimplify a little but at some point, they will strike a balance. The amount of A being made will become the same as A being used to make C. And the other way around.
This, my now science-nerd friends, is called equilibrium. And there’s a fancy arrow we use for that as well.
This means A and C are in equilibrium.
Science ends
If you stuck with all the science stuff, well kudos to you! I know I said this endeavour is to not use AI so much. Well, I kind of had to because I used LaTeX blocks to write the equations, and I refuse to waste time looking for syntax. I’m sorry that’s the last technical thing I say!
Equilibrium means that neither side of the equation can be perfect, and it shouldn’t have to be either. Strike a balance, and all is going to be stable.
If I play too much Fortnite, studies suffer.
If I study too much, health suffers.
If I work out too much, muscle recovery suffers.
If muscles take too long to recover, sleep suffers.
If I don’t sleep enough, Fortnite time suffers.
I got that tied into a neat little bow, but it gets way more complicated than that. How do I resolve it? One thing at a time. Prioritize and start adding things into the mix.
I believe that if keep experimenting, eventually some variation of time spent on each thing will feel right. Unlike so many chemical reactions, humans might have to spend years striking that balance. Part of the reason is that we keep adding new things into the mix. But that is okay! That is life.
I strive to get a little closer to finding my equilibrium each year, if not each month or week. Perhaps I’m never going to truly achieve that stability. But that’s the best part, if oversimplified, maybe I already have.