There is a natural order to the universe, in which all effects have causes, and things operate by knowable laws. But from the perspective of human survival, there is a natural disorder to the universe too, that absent our productive action, forces both animate and inanimate would make of our world an unlivable chaos.
One summer long ago I worked for a golf course superintendent, a man who knew seemingly everything about grasses, plants, soil, fungi, and all things horticultural. Daily he would traverse our 40 acres, minutely examining everything to learn what needed tending to, and we his crew would water, mow, plant, rake, trim, fertilize, aerate, weed, and spray, according to his direction. If we hadn’t, that beautiful landscape would have transformed itself before too long into unrecognizable wilderness.
This is but a tiny example, but it does typify the continuous havoc wreaked on us by weather, vegetation, predators, bacteria, and viruses, including novel corona ones. Thankfully, we are not passive victims to such onslaughts. Daily we can think and act — research, design, build, repair — on scales from massive to minuscule, all in our defense.
So while there is a natural order to the universe, achieving order in our world requires continuous production.
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