Transient Permanence
Once
upon a time, the Higgs Boson said to the Cosmic Parliament of Particles, “Four
score and seventy million Plank times ago, the preons founded a new universe,
conceived in indeterminacy, dedicated to the proposition that all particles are
unbound. I call on you to affirm Nonconfinement as an eternal principle of our
law. Is it so moved?”
The particles
applauded loud enough to re-heat the universe to forty-two quintillion degrees
Kelvin. Thus the measure passed by acclaim.
“Unfortunately,”
the Higgs Boson continued, “the Mathematics Ministry informs me that austerity
measures are now necessary, to maintain cosmic credibility. They recommend
strict conservation of energy, momentum and spin, as a temporary measure for
the duration of the emergency. Is it so moved?”
The
universe expanded and cooled during the long debate. Finally the particles passed
the measure by a vote of 987,654,321 to 987,654,320.
At that exact instant,
the cosmic quark-gluon plasma condensed. Ever since then all quarks and gluons have
been confined to bound states; but energy, momentum and spin remain strictly
conserved.
Moral:
Nothing’s more transient than an eternal
principle, or more permanent than a temporary measure.
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