VI
BEON— the COUNTERFORCE

Earlier we concluded that at least two things are required for a physical event to occur. Each thing must manifest a force capable of affecting the other. The two things which interacted to begin the physical universe are:

Energy, in primeval form— probably the stuff astronomers have named dark energy. As we learn more, we may learn differently.

The second essential component of the universe is beon, which provides energy's counterforce.

The idea of an entropic counterforce is not new to Beon Theory. Originally proposed by James Clerk Maxwell, a brilliant 19th century physicist, the entropic counterforce actually has a scientific pedigree.

Maxwell was not a garden-variety university perfesser. In 1856 he proved mathematically that Saturn's rings must be composed of lumps of material and were not solid as thought. Disputed by university-educated astronomers of his time who could not understand his math, Maxwell's prediction was confirmed 125 years later.

In 1873, he published a set of four simple differential equations which described the behavior of electric and magnetic phenomena. They led, 15 years later to the discovery of radio waves by Heinrich Hertz, thence to the invention of radio by Nicoli Tesla. Currently known as Maxwell's equations, they remain the foundation of electromagnetic physics.

The visual images confirming Maxwell's Saturnian ring analysis were transmitted from a Voyager spacecraft via the radio waves his own equations predicted. Seems fitting.

A theoretician far ahead of his time, Maxwell devised a curious thermodynamic concept— a tiny “entity” holding the molecule-sized gate between two air-filled chambers within a sealed box.

Label the chambers H and C. Before the demon sets to work, the molecules within each chamber are moving about randomly, some fast, others slow. Therefore the temperature within each chamber, which is determined by the average speed of whatever molecules it contains, is the same.

Maxwell's explanation lacked a motivation for his demon's efforts. Our version will provide one— a mug of warmish beer in chamber C.

The demon opens the little gate between the two chambers whenever a fast-moving molecule comes along from chamber C, thus increasing the number of high-energy molecules in chamber H. He also opens the gate whenever a slow molecule heads from chamber H towards chamber C.

As fast molecules congregate in chamber H, it gets hotter. The slower, lower-energy molecules in chamber C leave it cooler— something which never occurs in nature (although according to probability theory, it could). Entropy within the box is decreased in violation of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics and the beer in chamber C gets chilled.

Of course the entropy-reducing action within Maxwell's box depends upon his demon's ability to manage the gate within, happily sorting molecules without drawing upon any energy within the box for its own sustenance. The demon doesn't need food or a girlfriend— just an occasional cold beer which he recycles after use.

Were the demon to take his beer break and inadvertently leave the gate open, a sudden, possibly explosive rush of air from the hot chamber into the cold one would disrupt his experience.

This imaginary entity came to be known as Maxwell's Demon. Maxwell did not suggest that it actually existed. Some opine that his demon was intended to provoke thought about the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics.

But Maxwell was undoubtedly aware of the 2nd Law's implications for the origin of the universe. Living in a Christian culture which took religion extremely seriously, perhaps he was carefully proposing, far ahead of his time and decades before Darwin, that science could offer an alternative concept for the Creator.

Like Maxwell's demon, the concept of beon is intended to explain, not the creation of energy, but its organization into structured forms such as the matter and radiation which make up much of the physical universe.

Substance and Structure

Substance is the stuff from which structures are formed.

The earth contains diverse minerals— such as the calcium, carbon, silicon and iron from which we form highways, skyscrapers, and computers. The earth provides the substance from which we can build such structures.

Substance is the potter's clay, structure lies in a finished bowl. Substance is the artist's paint, structure is in his portrait.

Commenting upon one of his sculptures, Michelangelo expressed his personal relationship between substance and structure: “I saw this angel in the marble and carved to set him free.”

Our universe contains structures of many kinds and sizes, from galaxies containing billions of stars, to the rocks and puddles of water that make up much of our planet. All of these are composed of tiny particles of electrically charged matter. Energy is the substance from which these myriad and mysterious atomic angels have been carved.

The Substance of Beon

Beon is an entity capable of exerting a counterforce to the normal entropic flow of energy. This provides the basis for its organizing ability, commonly manifested in human beings as creative thought. It also allows beon to shape energy into more complex structures.

Even tentative consideration of these hypotheses invokes the question: Of what might beon itself be composed?

These pages define a spirit-free zone; therefore beon must be composed of something real, something we can learn about with the methods of science. Logical considerations may get us started.

Since beon is not a created entity, it cannot come with complex internal functions which define its innate behavior. Beon-level behavior must be a natural function of the substance composing it, as with energy.

For example, the Second Law of Thermodynamics governs interactions between atoms and stuff because the same law governs the unstructured energy from which atoms and stuff are formed.
In turn, we might expect beon's properties to be derived from or analagous to whatever substance forms it.

Therefore any hypotheses we've ventured about the properties of beon, such as its ability to counter the entropic force of energy, should apply to whatever stuff beon is composed of.

Another Word on the Subject

Referring to the substance of which beon is composed as “stuff” is unspecific, and might give the impression that the concepts we are trying to explain are as vague as the words used to explain them. Therefore we need a word for the stuff. Our choice is aeon, a word which can be found in the dictionary but has been lost to common English.

Aeon is a Greek word from which English speaking people have dropped the “a,” leaving eon, meaning, “a long period of time.” Since “eon” has pretty much replaced “aeon” in English usage, we do little linguistic damage by inventing a different application for aeon, with thanks and apologies to the Greeks.

We are not the first to co-opt the word aeon. Early gnostic writers used it in a sense similar to our use of beon. Confused mystics pretending gnosticism on the internet, use it indiscriminately.

For our purposes, aeon names the substance of beon. This retains the sense of aeon as something which has existed forever, something as formless as time itself. This usage also departs from the ancient gnostic application to discrete entities— but the departure may be temporary.

Aeon connects to a related word, aeonian, meaning eternal. We do not have any concepts lined up to go with related inventable words such as ceon. However, should anyone come up with a good reason to sex beons, words like heon or sheon are obvious choices.

Aeon

At this point we can only speculate about the form and structure of aeon, a task which will be more proficiently accomplished by mathematicians who enjoy dealing with exotic geometries in the context of relativistic space-time. That is not this writer's area of expertise, which he knows from having given it his best shot.

At this point our assertions about the primeval, original form of aeon are:

It had no origin.

It was undifferentiated, not composed of smaller parts.

It manifests a counterforce to energy's Second Law of Thermodynamics. It naturally reacts to the presence of energy.

Aeon and energy may currently co-exist but cannot always have done so.

These ideas deserve more explanation. However, in the interest of retaining our cherished reader's undivided attention, detailed speculations will be relegated to an appendix.

Including them here would add speculative physics to the ideas our reader may already be considering. A similar technique in football is called “piling on,” and is no fun for the guy on the ground.

Limited Speculations

Aeon and energy collided. It seems unlikely that this collision occurred within the same spacetime framework as those between stalled cars and freight trains, because at the moment of that ancient collison neither space nor time, as we understand them, existed.

The word “collided” may be an exaggeration. Their encounter may have been what we would refer to as a gentle brush.

Years ago, one of my college chemistry lectures began with the professor dipping a small paint brush in a beaker of what appeared to be water. He then painted some branches of a Christmas tree, festively placed ten feet from his desk, with this solution before proceding with his lecture.
Five minutes before the end of the lecture he picked up a long bamboo fishing pole with a feather tied to its end that had been parked on his desk throughout the class, stretched out and gently touched the feather tip to the painted tree branches. That side of the tree exploded in a festive display of violet smoke.
The force of the contact which initiated the blast was insignificant compared to the forces it released.
Regrettably, several female students did not appreciate the unexpected adrenaline rush. Thanks to their complaint, an excellent professor was reprimanded and “dangerous” experiments forbidden.

Whatever it consisted of, the collision or brush between aeon and energy caused random differentiations in each. It heated energy above 0°K and reduced its entropy, allowing energy to take shape and form for the first time in its existence.

Aeon itself disintegrated into the differentiated forms which we have named beons.

This event set the stage for the origin of our universe, and eventually for the remarkable and mysterious process in which most human beings unconsciously participate, treating it as nothing more than an incidental by-product of life— the coming of an individual to consciousness.

Thu 08/27/09 14:54