All things that participate in anything that is common to
them all, move towards that which is of the same kind with themselves.
Everything that is earthy turns towards the earth, everything that is liquid
flows together, and everything that is of an aerial kind does the same, so that
they require something to keep them asunder, and the application of force.
Fire indeed moves upwards on account of the elemental fire,
but it is so ready to be kindled together with all the fire that is here, that
even every substance which is somewhat dry is easily ignited, because there is
less mingled with it of that which is a hindrance to ignition.
Accordingly, then, everything also that participates in the
common intelligent nature moves in like manner towards that which is of the
same kind with itself, or moves even more. For so much as it is superior in
comparison with all other things, in the same degree also is it more ready to
mingle with and to be fused with that which is akin to it.
Accordingly among animals devoid of reason we find swarms of
bees, and herds of cattle, and the nurture of young birds, and in a manner,
loves between them; for even in animals there are souls, and that power that
brings them together is seen to exert itself in a superior degree, and in such
a way as never has been observed in plants, nor in stones, nor in trees.
But in rational animals there are political communities and
friendships, and families and meetings of people; and in wars, treaties and
armistices. . . .
—Marcus
Aurelius, Meditations, Book 9.9 (tr
Long)
I think here of
the expression, “like knows like”. My great-grandmother would say that “birds
of a feather will flock together”, and I seem to recall a little song that went
along with the phrase, though I have sadly forgotten the other words.
Now we may be
tempted to put down the physics of the Ancients as primitive and crude,
convinced that we are far smarter when it comes to explaining how the world
works. We forget, however, that what we know only builds upon what they knew,
and I always seek to find the common truths from different times and
traditions.
So yes, while
it seems to make sense to say that heavy things fall together and light things
rise together, is it not true also that temperature will move from hot to cold,
or that air flows from a higher pressure to a lower pressure? Doesn’t magnetism
involve like poles repelling one another, and opposite poles attracting one
another? Were the Ancients too ignorant to see this?
I would suggest
that the principle Marcus Aurelius is trying to describe here isn’t only about
things coming to rest together. Rather, it is saying that things that share in
the same nature will always act for the same purpose and in the same way. Whatever
the form of that action, whether it is about gravity, or heat, or gasses, or
electromagnetism, the same things will behave “like” one another.
In other words,
it doesn’t necessarily mean things of the same nature are all going to the same
place, but that they are all doing the very same sort of thing. They will
continue to do so, together, until something else stands in their way.
We may not
speak in terms of the Classical Four Elements anymore, but the Ancients did
understand these as states of matter, and change as a result of the interaction
between these states of matter, out of the balance between opposites. Earth,
water, air, and fire will behave according to their nature, according to what
they are, hindered only by a contrary force.
This principle
of nature, where being disposed in a certain way is what joins things, is to be
found in living things as well. As a child I was fascinated that dogs seemed to
prefer being together, but cats seemed to prefer being apart. They were quite
different from one another, but quite alike among themselves. A dozen dogs in
the same room and a dozen cats in the same room will act very differently; I
can only speculate about all of them in the same room.
And this is
also true of rational life. However fully they may or may not choose to reflect
upon it, all men seek happiness, and they pursue their happiness through their
own understanding of what is good for them. So it is that we form associations
with one another, not merely by a physical force, or by an instinct, but out of
our own choices. We may have friends, for example, who are very different from
us in some ways, but what we have in common is a shared end or goal.
Even when we battle
among ourselves, out of a flawed conviction that our respective goods are in
conflict, we can still find ourselves drawn to making peace, to resolving
differences, to finding a common way.
Boulders will
roll downhill, and birds will flock together, and men will try to build a
community. Each of these tendencies follows from a likeness of nature, from the
lesser to the greater, from the more determined to the more free, from the
unconscious to the conscious.
Written in 8/2008
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