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Articles: My Thoughts | Inertia - Prof. Narasimham Brahmandam
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On Inertia
Newton proposed that Inertia is a basic property of matter. It means that a body will not move unless moved and it will not stop unless stopped. If a thing is speeding up or slowing down, it means that there is a known or unknown force at it. When you step out of a running train and bruise your knees (if not worse), you recognize that your body too has inertia.
A can of petrol lies deceptively harmless, but can work havoc with a little spark in it vapors. This probably can be called chemical inertia. Many chemicals do not react unless goaded by a catalyst. The bomb that annihilated Hiroshima was an innocuous looking little ball until a neutron hit its first atom. Every atom capable of splitting needed a neutron hit to accomplish the act. This inertia of action is hardly distinguishable from the inertia of Newton.
When both the inactive matter as well as its motor, the energy, possesses inertia, living things made up of them would also naturally display inertia. All animals including man are indolent by nature, i.e., possess inertia. They would not act unless there is an attractive force of a commensurate reward or the fear of injury or death. Their habits are like uniform motion. A force of reward or punishment is needed both to acquire a habit or get rid of it. Animal trainers are fully aware of this and human trainers, probably, a little less.
Man is endowed with a mind, which is also matter and is no exception to the law of inertia. He tends to become a slave to addictions, which his inner forces are inadequate to stop. Apart from them, he acquires a number of relatively harmless habits, which can be embarrassing at times. On the other hand, it is very difficult to make him take to ‘good’ habits.
Society is a colony of individuals like the beehive or an ant hive, though not half as disciplined. Its inertia is the summation of the inertia of its individual members. The habits of a society are known as customs or traditions, some times glorified to ‘cultural heritage’ or out-dated superstitions depending on the audience addressed and the object of the address.
Even five to six centuries ago, saints and poets began warning the people of the faults of the cast system. The British shed rivers of crocodile tears that castes and religions were the only hurdles between our people and their freedom. They tried their best to level up the ‘weaker’ castes and religions as a prelude to a casteless, secular and egalitarian nation until their efforts were crowned by the partition of the country solely on the basis of religion. Over the last half a century, our political vote catchers have also continued to shed tears and, ostensibly, to work hard to abolish caste and personalize religion. To day, governments are busy preparing fresh and enlarged lists of castes, issuing caste certificates and naming and forming religious districts. Their caste discriminatory laws, sanctified by the principle of correcting the injustices by earlier generations, are upheld by courts of law, giving lack of enterprise and competence the stature of an accomplishment to be proud of. One may attribute the caste and religion race to the vested interest of certain groups of persons belonging to them and benefiting by it, and political parties nurturing them for their own ends. But even in the unlikely event of their being withdrawn, caste and religion will persist by the sheer inertia of the society until we discover the kind of force that can stop them from causing havoc.
At least for over a century, the custom of dowry has been condemned on platforms. The first Telugu drama, deprecating dowry was staged early in this century. When the arrows of public oratory filed, the guns of legislature were turned on the pernicious custom. But the custom goes on undeterred. We may attribute the continuance of the evil partly to the greed of the groom’s parents and partly to the ambition of the girl’s parents for a life of opulence for the girl after marriage. But even a horrible custom like sati after two centuries of legal ban, raises its head occasionally though, apparently, there are no vested interests. Similarly, child marriages are still the custom in some families of the north. Remarriage of women after the death or divorce of the husband is still uncommon. Adherence to these practices cannot be traced to vested interests. They are the result of social inertia.
This inertia assumes several forms. In some it appears as reverence for the forefathers and the unshakable faith in their wisdom behind the glorious traditions established by them. Some may consider it an inviolable ordinance of God. They are afraid of the inferno that awaits them on the judgment day for transgression of the ordinance. Some may take shelter under the tenet of Bhagavadgiita that it is better to die in one’s own dharma than adopt another’s. Some may see faults in both the new and old custom and, therefore, see no need to change. And still others feel embarrassed to be the odd ones to break the tradition. Manifest in all these pretexts is the reluctance to change. That is inertia.
If the inability to discard the old is inertia, the inability to accept the new is equally so. For merely expressing new scientific discoveries, many famous pioneers of science were tortured in the west, which is now acclaimed as the harbinger of modern scientific temper. The so-called fundamentalists of many religions are fortifying their inertia with militant divinity transmitted to their frightened followers. Crusades and jihads have been and are still being fought to ‘protect’ the Protector from those who refute him. Even while experiencing avoidable misery by over population, birth control is spurned by millions because it is not expressly mentioned in the religious texts. The authors of these great texts, unfortunately, did not face the need for birth control; nor did they, probably, know that it was possible!
What Indian sages call sangam or attachment is also a form of inertia. The renounced Sanyaasis are supposed not to sleep at the same place for two consecutive nights lest they should develop an attachment to the spot. Then they would not be inclined to leave it and may begin to assume a right over it. That disinclination is inertia. In a broad sense, the love one develops for his family, property, village, state and the country is all due to inertia. I may be pardoned if I generalize that love and hatred are due to inertia. I wonder whether the soul is also subject to inertia. It does not seem to leave the body easily. Hindus have elaborate obsequies to free it from its habitat, because they seem to believe in the inertia of the departing soul.
Governments and even nations are prisoners of inertia. The protocols handed down from the medieval times, of gun salutes of the specified number, the guards of honour, wreaths on the samadhis are all monuments of inertia.
We are faced with inertia myriad times in our daily lives. But we get rid of it by using suitable force. Every one is familiar with the inertia of files piling up into little mounds on office tables. In some offices they move with slow uniform velocity. In some offices they stay put motionless. To move them or accelerate their movement, a force has to be applied. The magnitude and direction of the applied force determines he direction or rate of their movement. Depending on the force, a file my fly from table to table or it may go into dormancy deep in the archives of the office or it may even proceed to the crematorium. The force used to overcome inertia takes different forms depending on the circumstances. Te Telugu author of the famous ‘Sumati S΄atakam’ has said that even the chariot of god cannot move without applying the lubricant.
Man works for reward. Salary, which is a great force till he joins the job, soon loses its energy and is unable to overcome inertia. Salary continues like uniform motion, i.e., inertia. In order to spur the employee to action, a bonus is given to him, if there are profits. Soon bonus becomes a right even if here are no profits. Then like salary, it becomes unable to overcome inertia. The employee looks for enticements like tips, presentations, and petty bribes. But they too become inadequate as he ascends the ladder of hierarchy. Then he begins to look for commissions, kickbacks and pay offs. The Governments usually turn a Nelson’s eye towards them owing to the high principles of democracy. The commercial establishments fully respect this law of inertia. They give commissions to employees on the basis of turn over. This acts as a never blunting spur in the psyche of the employee as a perpetual accelerator.
Government institutions, because of their massive establishments, have much greater inertia than private ones. Let us take the courts for example. They are supposed to set r right injustices suffered by people. But they cannot take up a matter unless their inertia is dispelled by stamp duty. Then, if the inertia of the lawyers and the court officials is countered by cajoling, coaxing, enticing or other means, the petition comes to the bench. After the inevitable number of adjournments a decree may be given. Soon inertia overtakes the court. On payment of the requisite fees, the court will take u the executive petition, pass orders and is again overtaken by inertia. If the respondent evades the orders, the petitioner has once again to pay further fees and bring to the notice of the court that the respondent has treated it with contempt. The court may roar like a lion and send the respondent to prison. But the injustice to the petitioner still remains unremedied. This goes n till he spends all his resources to combat inertia at all levels; or becomes wise and solves his problem himself by other methods. The court does not take the responsibility to execute the orders unless repeatedly ‘brought to its notice’. Courts do dispense justice. They dispense decrees. Hence the popular conception that facilities available for the lawbreaker are not available to the law abiders.
If we go on in this strain, inertia seems to bring nothing but misery to us. But it has many benefits too. Biologically viewed, inertia seems to be a self-preserving mechanism. Danger may be lurking in an unknown place. If one is not prepared, a small slip could be fatal. Fear. Caution and reserve are forces of inertia, which help one to look before he leaps.
Habit is sustained due to inertia. Good habits formed in childhood stand in good stead in later life. A man without reasonable inertia is like a kite with a snapped string. He is a blind slave to the new. If the slavery is confined to the dress and hairdo of youth, it may not matter much. But if governments and even educational institutions blindly follow others, many undesirable results ensue. It is very likely that ill informed rulers may bring in discordant innovations, which destabilize society and create chaos. They may not bestow even a fraction of concern for the dwindling number of wild animals to the rapid disappearance of the great traditional ethics, philosophy and culture of the country. If the people are equally unresisting, wisdom accumulated over ages may evaporate in minutes. IT is inertia that is protecting people from the cultural debasement meted out in the films and on the television. It is inertia that still preserves our national prestige as the birthplace of great saints and seers who have enriched human thought.
The barrier between observance and defiance of law is a thin ridge and it is inertia that keeps the average man on the social side of the ridge. Our economy runs on because the average man by habit is honest and honours his word. It is not he police and the courts that keep peace in the country. It is the inertia of the people that makes them obey social laws. Else, a government cannot govern even with one constable for each citizen. Without inertia, there is no restraint, no morals, no protection for the weak and no society. Inertia preserves our culture. Inertia preserves humanity.
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