The Holy
Grail for scientists is finding a single theory of life and everything; one
organising insight that will explain how the universe works in all its
multifarious manifestations.
This
scientific obsession is driven by the delusion that humans must, by definition,
be able to explain everything in terms that they find satisfying and acceptable. Yeah, right … explain why beautiful women so
often marry dog-ugly men, why you can’t unlearn how to ride a bicycle (try it
sometime), or why a toothache disappears in the dentist’s waiting room ….
The irony is
that while we hate to admit it, we actually know that we know very little and
much of the angst and most of the Counselling industry that typify our age is
driven by a denial of this understanding.
We have conned
ourselves into assuming that we live in a world that works by logical,
human-friendly rules and as the evidence mounts that this is clearly not the
case more people become more confused and more frightened every day.
It is
precisely because we are kidding ourselves that we struggle.
Once we accept that while there may be lots
of little rules that work some of the time (like gravity, physics and the
inverse correlation between how bad medicine tastes and how good it is for you)
the universe reveals an obtuse logic, a single, all-encompassing law that
applies to everything and everybody, always.
Had we been at the creational take-away counter this is probably not what
we might have ordered but it’s a lot more fun than the bland “meat and 2 veg” alternative
we would probably have signed up for.
Whether we
like it or not, we live in a vastly complex universe in which everything is
interconnected and where what happens is entirely independent of what we may
want. As Lynne McTaggart demonstrates in
“The Intention Experiment” we cause things to happen way beyond our
understanding and reach all the time.
There are
only two ways to respond to this realisation: denial or acceptance.
It is only once
we accept that we are largely clueless and probably not in control of anything that
it becomes possible to see that our universe and everything and everybody in it
actually is governed by a single all-encompassing law albeit one many
of us don’t necessarily like:
The law of unintended consequences (LUC for short) which holds
that for every intended consequence there is an equal and opposite set of
unintended consequences.
The “Law of Unintended Consequences” is not something I thought out. It has been the subject of philosophical speculation for ages and some people have even tried their hand at reducing it to “science” (he he).
Everything I have
ever managed to find about the Law of Unintended Consequences is flawed in the
same way – the authors, thinkers and writers in question all seem to think that
we can somehow anticipate the unintended, know the unknowable. This explains why they all limit the law to
stating that intended consequences will cause unintended ones too without recording that these will always be unknowable in advance (or else they wouldn't be unintended in the first place).
Newton’s
Third Law states that: "Every action has an equal and opposite
reaction". Good scientist
that he was, Newton and all those who followed him only gave credence to the “real”
world and assumed that laws of physics can only apply in a physical world where
they could be observed and measured. They were wrong.
The same law
holds equally true in the invisible force-field of which we are all part. The only difference is that this invisible
realm cannot be reduced to one-dimensional causal relations where the equal and
opposite reaction is a simple “push-back”.
Our intentions cause vibrations throughout the infinitely large spider’s
web that is the universe (or if you prefer, cause ripples across the lake of
infinity) where they meet up with the vibrations or ripples of untold numbers
of other intentions. In symbiotic resonance they compose a flawless unique and original part for the symphony of life every moment of every day. How the universe
responds we can never know in advance. What we do know and should never forget is that it will respond. Always has, always will.
Scary? Not at all! There are theorems that qualify the Law of Unintended Consequences and
the most important of them all is that the universe works to encourage what is
good and discourage what is bad. If we
insist on joy in spite of everything, we will find it and cause it.
In the words
of John Lennon in “All you need is love”:
There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the
game.
It's easy.
Nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in
time.
It's easy.
…
All you need is love.
…
Love is all you need.
Nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to
be.
It's easy.
All you need is love.
…
Love is all you need.
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