A Point of View By Paul Montesino

Of Initial momentum and Perpetual motion

 “A Point of View” © 1996

 By Paul V. Montesino, Ph.D., MBA, CSP.

For the past twenty-seven years, I’ve been writing articles in English and Spanish for this newspaper. This is a good example of the English version. 

Additionally, I’ve been writing and publishing fiction and non-fiction books, fifty-eight so far, at Amazon.com.

There is a series of books, eight so far, entitled “Point of View-Un Punto de Vista,” where I publish my Rumbo articles using a particular bilingual format I call “The Montesino Format” and consist of true bilingual articles where the paragraphs of both versions are printed interchangeably, one behind the other, in one merged article. They are truly bilingual.

Today I am starting my article with a couple of Physics principles. But don’t get scared from me yet. I am not planning to conduct one of the complicated college courses I used to teach. It is only an introduction to my traditional points of view about human conduct. Occasionally I give the impression I am diverging in order to… diverge.

Let’s start with the “Initial momentum.”  We define Momentum as the quantity of motion of a moving body measured as the product (multiplication) of that body’s mass and velocity. Initial refers to that product (multiplication) when an object starts moving. Think of your car after you start it. Think of your beginning the Boston Marathon race. 

As for “perpetual motion,” it’s the action of a device that, once set in initial motion, would continue in motion forever with no additional energy required to maintain it. Such devices are impossible on grounds stated by familiar laws of thermodynamics in Physics. Eventually, energy runs out and the object stops. Again, think of running the Marathon. 

Enter Human Behavior in our conversation, our stated goal.

There is always a moment when a human being starts behaving in a manner not previously practiced. We can be positive, negative, or neutral, and then we begin to behave in a new direction that will define us for a while, even forever. Whatever force we apply to that new behavior is “initial momentum.” The best example is children who never express any behavior, positive or not, and suddenly begin anew.

As for “perpetual motion,” using the concept gets a bit more complicated. Here I use examples of behaviors that we decide to continue after we experiment with them. In most cases, there is a reward associated with the behavior. The human brain gets a reward from the most inconceivable exposures to outside impressions. Whether it is the effect of nicotine in cigarettes, alcohol in drinks, or dumbing in cocaine, physical abuse on us or others, the impact on the brain may be “naturally” rewarding even though morally or physically damaging it eventually as human beings. 

We cannot use those brain teasers forever, their “perpetual” effect on our brains is destructive and from there, the hurtful impact on the rest of the human body directly or indirectly is equally destructive.

So here we are, we must be careful how we educate ourselves from the get-go to avoid starting a new destructive perpetual motion habit using tools like education, living examples, and positive rewards to protect us. The notions of “initial momentum” and “perpetual motion” are not simple examples used in courses of Physics that govern our lives. They are also principles that support who we will be or are as human beings as well.

And That is my Point of View Today. So Long.