To move forward, we have to leave something behind.
Newton’s Third Law.
From Interstellar by Christopher Nolan.
I think a better statement to describe this law is “To move forward, we have to push something back.”
That creates a perspective that is easier to visualize and somewhat different than the abstract relationship of humanity. On my journey to explore new horizons, I have pushed many things back, to have momentum for my life to move forward. There are things I proactively do, and there are things I reluctantly lose.
Do I have regrets?
Yes.
Very much.
I left behind everything I had built after a short period of time looking for opportunities in a new land. I said I could accept this happening but it’s funny that I’m still thinking about it. Come on, everything happens for a reason.
In fact, the quote in the title is more metaphorical and philosophical than describing any physical law. In reality if you just leave something which has been attached to you in a space without air, you both continue to go forward next to each other without any change in speed. Or we can also refer to Newton’s second law to somewhat describe the detach process.
“The acceleration of an object is dependent upon two variables, the net force acting upon the object and the mass of the object or F=ma”. In the case of the scene where Cooper mentions this knowledge to Brand, when one of the parts of the spaceship is released, the rest has lower mass and with the same amount of remaining fuel it can make a larger acceleration.
This would make scientific sense, but Nolan wants that every single quote of his movie make a philosophical poem to shoot it at the faces of audiences. If the quote was like: “We can use the second law of Newton: F=ma”, it wouldn’t be so poetic.
I’m busy talking about scientific things to try to calm myself down a bit about the things I left behind.
I also said goodbye to my motorbike that had been with me for so many years. There are so many stories to tell about the journeys we have gone through. To feel the day when I am no longer sitting on it, I don’t seem ready. Anyway, I have to get over it.
I’ve had enough time to understand that my brief career will continue.
I realized that my motorbike had completed its mission, and now it was time for it to continue running long distances with someone else.
I will miss so much of what has passed.
