How to Live by the Sun of God: Why We Work
The current topic of discussion is the physical laws of nature and how they dictate our behaviors in the world. Specifically we are looking at the third law of thermodynamics, which we have shown explains the existence of life as we know it. I am attempting to extend from this physical law to a moral law supported in nature, in order to remove the ambiguity that surrounds most moral dogma.
Last week we started to look at what behaviors are in harmony with the third law, namely consumption and rest – two of the qualities that comprise the Feminine principle in our nature. Now let’s look at the other half.
Work (the Masculine principle)
Consumption of information (food, natural resources, and media), like fusion within the sun, does the useful work of keeping us alive. But also like fusion, what we consume releases more energy than we need for just survival. Our life emerged from the excess energy of the sun, and we in turn shape the world around us with the excess energy of what we consume.
This explains the deadliness of the sins of gluttony and sloth. Consumption and rest without work leads to illness and death, just as the reverse does. We must direct our excess energy toward work – the Masculine, or outward projection of our energies into the world.
We must work to live. Work is anything that expends our energy, and there are three broad ways in which we do this: producing, activity, and speaking (note how these correspond to the three things we consume – food, energy, and media). Producing is shaping the world around us to create something new – examples include farming, building a business, creating art, developing a mathematical theory, etc. Activity is engaging the world around us to rearrange the existing order of things – exercise, running errands, cooking and cleaning are types of activity. Speaking is the direct conversion of the information we take in into sound energy.
Similar to consumption, our work has two main purposes: 1) it dissipates the excess energy from what we consume and 2) it provides us with the means to consume, thus continuing the cycle of dissipation. Fusion in the sun releases energy that fuels further reactions that sustain the life of the sun. In our lives consumption releases energy which fuels work, which then allows us to consume again. It is this dance of consumption and work, Feminine and Masculine, that achieves humanity’s contribution to dissipation.
But if I handed ten people a piece of paper and asked them to write down why they work, not one would say “to dissipate the energy of the sun”. I would probably receive the answer “money” from a handful. And though this is currently the predominant means by which we obtain information to consume, it is dangerous to confuse energy dissipation, the ultimate aim of both consumption and work, with a proxy such as “money”.
We live in a world where there is a huge disconnect between the amount of money we receive and the work we do. I know this from direct experience – I left a high-paying job in the financial industry that entailed very little work as outlined above; now I produce, act, and speak a great deal more, but receive far less monetary compensation. Money has been designed as a proxy for energy, but it is an imperfect one. If we elevate it beyond the status of a temporary means of exchange, currently employed by humans but not ultimately necessary for our survival or growth in consciousness, we will bring harm to ourselves (mo’ care for money, mo’ problems). If instead we elevate the quality of our work and how much energy dissipation it achieves, we will bring good to our lives. One comment I often get from people still working in my former job is how much younger I look now. Indeed I am younger now than I was a few years ago. The gratitude of the sun is much more powerful than any paycheck.
So what does dissipation have to say about what we should be doing for work? Let’s look at each of the types of work and see how they relate to the work of the sun. Producing is synthesis – bringing an idea to life. It is like the final creation of life from all the individual chemical processes taking place on earth. Activity orders and rearranges. It is therefore like the sun’s energy itself, which catalyzes the chemical reactions here. Speaking is creating and releasing vibratory energy. It is like the source of the sun’s energy, fusion or the creative force itself.
In our work we have a complete analog to the process of the creation of life by the sun. To be in alignment with this we should partake in each of the three forms of work, without over- or under-emphasizing any one component. In my experience, teaching incorporates each of these more fully than any other pursuit. This doesn’t mean everyone needs to go out and become school teachers. It means we all need to pass on the knowledge that we gain. Imagine a world of only teachers and students. Like John Lennon said, “I wonder if you can.”
Now, what do you think? Is money worth more than the paper it is written on? Is all this mumbo-jumbo just an updated form of astrotheology? What should we do for work? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, and have a productive week ahead!