In general, a phase transition is reversible — water freezes to ice; ice melts to water. But if a phase transition is mono-directional you are treading on very thin ice indeed.
The good news is there are very few irreversible phase transitions. The bad news is we are very close to breaching one. Brace yourself, for you will not see or hear or detect, by any other sense, its coming.
It began very stealthily in the 1980's. A community ordinance in the Northeastern United States decreed that political correctness will be introduced in early childhood education. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Soon after, the school district surrounding that community eliminated traditional report cards for grades K-6. If Johnny couldn't read in 6th grade, his anecdotals would gently inform his parents that their ten-year-old has made stellar progress in adaptive coloring, having incorporated green, which together with his mastery of red and blue, gives him unlimited spectral capabilities.
Years later, when Johnny entered the business world, having breezed through the post-graduate training course, endearingly named "You Want Fries Widdat?", his inability to make change was finessed by modern technology's boon to humanity — the fancy cash register with pixilated icons replacing numbered touch sensitive keys.
Today, Johnny is a discerning voter, fully engaged in the captivating dialog about new directions and generic change. At long last, he can anticipate a future when his dream-team leadership will give him a chance to make up for that missed school bus on the day they covered "How to Make Change."
Alas, dear reader, the story does not end well. In the very near future, if current trends will out, the Roman numbering of World Wars will be at the threshold of V, for III was claimed by the so-called Cold War, and IV was usurped by the dinosaur merchants of knowledge and evil, who were defeated by the enlightened purveyors of political correctness in coalition with the pragmatic exporters of homicide bombing.
So, once again, Albert Einstein was right, albeit an ordinal unit short of perfect prediction, when he posited, "I don't know what weapons will be used in World War III, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." The irreversible phase transition for dummies is fast approaching.
The good news is there are very few irreversible phase transitions. The bad news is we are very close to breaching one. Brace yourself, for you will not see or hear or detect, by any other sense, its coming.
It began very stealthily in the 1980's. A community ordinance in the Northeastern United States decreed that political correctness will be introduced in early childhood education. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Soon after, the school district surrounding that community eliminated traditional report cards for grades K-6. If Johnny couldn't read in 6th grade, his anecdotals would gently inform his parents that their ten-year-old has made stellar progress in adaptive coloring, having incorporated green, which together with his mastery of red and blue, gives him unlimited spectral capabilities.
Years later, when Johnny entered the business world, having breezed through the post-graduate training course, endearingly named "You Want Fries Widdat?", his inability to make change was finessed by modern technology's boon to humanity — the fancy cash register with pixilated icons replacing numbered touch sensitive keys.
Today, Johnny is a discerning voter, fully engaged in the captivating dialog about new directions and generic change. At long last, he can anticipate a future when his dream-team leadership will give him a chance to make up for that missed school bus on the day they covered "How to Make Change."
Alas, dear reader, the story does not end well. In the very near future, if current trends will out, the Roman numbering of World Wars will be at the threshold of V, for III was claimed by the so-called Cold War, and IV was usurped by the dinosaur merchants of knowledge and evil, who were defeated by the enlightened purveyors of political correctness in coalition with the pragmatic exporters of homicide bombing.
So, once again, Albert Einstein was right, albeit an ordinal unit short of perfect prediction, when he posited, "I don't know what weapons will be used in World War III, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." The irreversible phase transition for dummies is fast approaching.
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