Sometimes I use the phrase “gravity and cheeseburgers” as shorthand in my writing to represent the phenomenal plane of existence occupied by human beings. Why, and what does it mean? Like most shorthand phrases, it is a simple and memorable device that is packed with meaning. Therefore, what does it mean?
“Gravity.” Gravity in my shorthand represents all of the natural laws and forces in the universe. Everything we know from a scientific standpoint is subject to these laws and forces, as are we. We are in a 4-dimensional plane on which our known dramas play out. Of all of the scientific laws, why “gravity” though? It stands apart. Its effects are well known, but its nature is not fully understood. It shapes the universe and is closely correlated with Time. It is inexorable. We experience it in a noticeable way at every moment of our existence. Albert Einstein gave us our understanding of gravity in his General Theory of Relativity. Einstein struggled mightily to understand it and come up with his theory and formula which it took observations of the solar system to later prove. His physical appearance actually changed as he worked on it.
[G]eneral relativity is about more than just understanding gravity. It’s about explaining the totality of existence. …. Einstein quickly realized (or had known all along) that his new theory of gravity was really a theory of the cosmos.1
But gravity still presents us with mysteries. It doesn’t fit in with the other known forces, depriving Einstein and us of a unified theory (or, theory of everything). Gravity is a force but is it a wave or a particle (graviton) or both? Many believe they have found evidence for a wave, but the work goes on. Gravity is real, it creates phenomenal effects, even if we don’t fully understand it. It is ever present. Thus, I use “gravity” in my shorthand to represent all of the natural laws and forces in the universe.
“Cheeseburgers.” A cheeseburger in my shorthand represents all of the human manipulations of mass-energy in this existence. One could say it represents Lao Tzu’s “ten thousand things.” A cheeseburger follows the laws of nature, but it does not come into being without human manifestation. It is the product of human effort applied to nature, as are the vast majority of things in our lives. It has many parts and forces are applied to it. There is something else that the cheeseburger represents. The fact that a human being can not exist for long without other human beings. You can’t make your own cheeseburger without other people providing you with either material or effort. Even if you had land, and made your own tools, and raised all of the ingredients (but where did you get the animals and seed?), and processed the ingredients using machines you made, and created a cheeseburger, you could not have done all of that without other people agreeing to your use of the land (at least in today’s lawful world) and without your ancestors who created agriculture. Therefore, a cheeseburger represents human effort, cooperation, and the multitude of “things” in this phenomenal world. Thus, I use “cheeseburgers” in my shorthand to represent all of the human manipulations of mass-energy in existence.
These two words combined in a single phrase express the phenomenal plane of existence occupied by human beings.
#theworkofthepeople
Dispatches from the Imperial Capital 