How can one plus one equal three? Here is how it works. A
function, according to Webster, “depends on and varies with something else.”
There are two parts to a function: an
Essence that depends upon a Dynamic. These two wrap around each
other and are interdependent. So, there are two parts to a function. Any function operating in a Structure creates a Result. One Structure plus the
two-parts of the function equals three. These three create a Result. You started with Structure and function, one plus one; but
now you have Structure, Essence, and Dynamic coming to a single Result.
That's three: three-in-one. Keep this three-in-one key idea in mind as you
read, and you will be able to skim over technical details without missing the
important tool of thought this book offers you.
Within any function you will find an Essence. Wrapped around that Essence
will be a Dynamic. If you have
studied Calculus, you know the concept of function involves a derivative and an
integral, working together.
In electricity, Amperage and Voltage have this same
relationship. In physics the functional Essence
is a particle, and the functional Dynamic
is a wave. The particle and wave are inextricable. They work together
within the resistive Structure to
produce the Result we call the element.
Orientals call the Essence
and Dynamic the yin-yang. Call them
what you will, the Essence and the Dynamic function within a Structure to accomplish a Result. This is the core of natural
law. I call this characteristic of natural law “Cosmolaw.”
“To communicate is to shape concepts, language, and style in
ways that simultaneously satisfy the desires of the communicator and the unfilled needs of the audience,” writes
Burton Kaplan. This strategic communicator has fallen into our Cosmolaw pattern
at the outset of his book. His desired
Result is communication. He looks to concepts as the Structure of his quest, with the Essence being language wrapped
in Dynamic style. If you
internalize these concepts, and if I can stimulate your thinking with my
language and style, within the Structure
of Cosmolaw, we should be able to communicate.
Now, let's demonstrate the infinite flexibility of the
Cosmolaw formula. Look at the word language in the above paragraph. Think of it
in its context there. Now, let's view the source of the term “language.” Where
does it come from? Language is the
Result of the Essence of
semantics, wrapped in the Dynamic of
rhetoric, within the Structure of
phonetics. Let this example keep you from thinking of Cosmolaw as a simplistic
view of the universe. The complexities of interrelationships cannot be
fathomed. An in depth treatment of the interrelationships of these concepts
defining language can be found in Norbert Wiener's book The Human Use of Human Beings, Cybernetics and Society.
James P. Carse is quoted by Robert Fulghum, “Finite players
play within boundaries; infinite players play with boundaries.” We are finite.
We work within boundaries. The boundaries of this book are set by its outline.
All books hang on an outline. This book not only is written around an outline –
it is about an outline. The outline is my understanding of the arrangement of
everything in the universe.
If you are a Greek scholar, you may object to the hybrid
term “Cosmolaw.” You may prefer the term our professor son, Dr. Stephen
Palmquist, suggests: "Cosmonomos." The Greek word for law
("nomos") has its root in the idea of "parceling out food."
There is nothing more basic to human physical welfare than food. There is
nothing more beneficial to human social welfare than the law, justly applied. I
opted for “Cosmolaw” because few people know that the Greek “nomos” means
law.
The secret to a simple grasp of Cosmolaw is to view
everything you think about as existing within a Structure. Let's look again at the cover of this book. Think of the
cube as the Structure of the Grand
Unification. View the electron as the Essence
and the wave as the Dynamic. As the
cube bursts into creativity the Result is
the universe.
The Structure contains
an Essential element. Wrapped around
that element is a driving force, a Dynamic.
This function, the Dynamic-wrapped Essence, moves within the Structure toward a Result.
This is the way electricity works; and because the laws
governing the behavior of electricity are proven and reliable, we can use those
laws as a model for Cosmolaw.
Nature operates by a simple law imposed upon every aspect of
the universe. Everything involves an interlocking particle and potential
working together in a place. The universe is the Structure where Essential particles
of every size, whether microscopic or as large as a sun, respond to Dynamic forces making those
particles spiral to create the complex Result
we call nature. This is Cosmolaw.
So, we will use the term "Cosmolaw" whenever we
are not applying the outline specifically to Economics. I apply Cosmolaw to
economics in Part Two. There I refer to “Electrionomics.” This coined word was
the title I first chose for the book. It did not convey the general meaning we
had in mind, but it does expresses unity between the laws of electricity and
what could become laws of Economics: “electri” – electricity; “onomics” – economics.
Remind yourself often of the Cosmolaw outline, and you will
be able to use a formula of great simplicity, yet of most profound complexity.
Opening a subject this broad makes impossible a full treatment of its
implications. If we are accused of over simplicity, we accept the criticism but
point out how simple a road map is, how much it leaves out, yet how
indispensable it is to a traveler. Stephen Wolfram's A New Kind of Science, suggests that the complexities we see
around us came from what he calls a simple source like a basic computer program
dating back to the beginning of time.
In order to persuade scholars sophisticated in physics and economics that
Cosmolaw makes sense, we must later use scientific terms to explain our point.
However, as foreign as your experience might be to any chapter, do not be
discouraged. If you can picture an actor, toes to the mark (Structure); a camera pointed at him or
her (Essence); and a director
barking “action” (Dynamic) as they
create a movie (Result), you can
follow the reasoning this book presents.
If you internalize Cosmolaw, you will be rewarded with a
system of thought, a method of analysis and a tool for solving problems that
will enliven you. If you are a physicist, you may find here the Grand
Unification Theory. If you are an economist, you may discover laws that will
make your work more effective.
This book puts into your hands a tool. Any use of Cosmolaw
by this author to explain an issue or to draw a conclusion is only a use of the
tool. I can imagine a reviewer of this book will observe that the author's
application of Cosmolaw is sometimes “strained.” I accept the criticism on the
condition that the critic apply his own application, using Cosmolaw the way he
sees fit. If the man who discovered the hammer used that tool to hurt people,
he did not prevent later constructive uses of that tool. In other words, if you
think this book suggests wrong conclusions, apply your own links to the thought
tool of Cosmolaw. The formula suggested here is a method of thought. It is a
method you should learn. The author’s applications of that method are
secondary. Ignore or disagree with every conclusion drawn, and you can still
benefit from the book.