Newton"s Laws of Motion Can Teach Us All Something Within Our Own Lives

Can Newton’s Laws of Motion teach us about real life? Let’s examine this …

Newton's First Law of Motion: An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force. An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. This law is often called, "the law of inertia".

There is a somewhat natural tendency for people to keep on doing what they're doing, including doing nothing. These people will tend to resist change in their state of motion or inaction as the case may be. In some cases, some people will either refuse to do what they should, or continue to do what they should not. "In the absence of an unbalanced force, an "object" at rest or in motion will maintain this state." Consequently, some people will have to be either convinced or forced to change their ways. The other alternative is to simply leave them to self-destruct or hope they will eventually come to their senses and apply the First Law of Motion on their own accord.

Newton's Second Law of Motion: Acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass. The greater the mass "of the object being accelerated" the greater the amount of force needed "to accelerate the object".

In much the same manner that heavier objects require more force to move the same distance as lighter objects, some people need more "encouragement" than others to be convinced or forced to behave appropriately, due to the degree of stubbornness or ignorance that may be attributed to them.

There may be instances when it is desirable to encourage someone to make a decision expeditiously, or to take more time from making a hasty choice. Likewise, a greater “force” may be required to quickly speed up or slow down an individual’s actions.

Where no amount of “force” will bring about the required result, it may be necessary to confine the situation to the First Law, and try to limit the consequential fallout.

Newton's Third Law of Motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite re-action. This means that for every force there is a reaction force that is equal in size, but opposite in direction. That is to say that whenever an object pushes another object it gets pushed back in the opposite direction equally hard.

This law is a bit harder to qualify or even quantify in human life. This is for several reasons, and this list is by no means exhaustive.

1.     Some may choose to ignore the encouraging "force" pushing against them because of either fear, indifference, downright stubbornness or stupidity. Either way, they may be hoping that those applying the force will get tired of pushing.

2.     If you in particular, find an “opposing force being applied against you, you may choose to side-step the opposing force and let them run into the brick wall behind you. You may also decide to apply a deflecting force and simply brush aside the annoyance. You may even decide to stand firm and let them run into the brick wall that is you.

3.     You may decide to push back, move forward and apply aspects of the First and Second Laws. How much you may decide to push back may depend on your mood. You may feel merciful and generous and push back just enough to get their attention, and you say that you are in no mood for messing about. Or you may decide to apply such an indomitable action not only to deal with the opposing force against you, but to also send a prevailing message to other would be detractors.

This is my perspective on the principle of the application of Newton’s Three Laws to real life. You may look around you and make similar analogies, or you may come up with your own completely unique comparison. Whichever the case, please keep an open mind with respect to this.