A Rose by Any Other Name

It was high school and my AP physics teacher was trying to teach a bunch of red necks about potential and kinetic energy. After she had spent about 20 minutes going over all the formulas and confusing most of the kids I, per usual, made a smart ass comment, "so everything equals everything is what you're getting at." It a rather simple concept at its core really. Pretty much any formula with an E in it equals any other formula with an E in it. As one might expect energy can neither be created nor destroyed, just represented in a different form. It really reminds me of the diet fads over the past few decades. In the 90's everyone came up with the brilliant concept that if you don't eat fats you won't get fat; genius at the surface, but nothing more than semantics at its core. So why not try avoiding all carbs and gorging on every thing else; seems like the next logical step. Ultimately such specious reasoning will leave all those who gorge on everything but X (be it fats, or carbs, or elephant tongue) fat as a blimp. Just as in physics it's all the same thing. A calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. The solution isn't in how one distributes and markets it, but in moderation and balance and healthy lifestyles. Lately I've spent quite a few nights dwelling on our nations energy crisis, particularly as exemplified in the auto industry. People crying out we have to stop consuming gasoline and go ethanol or forget the corn and go electric or solar or explore the Andes for magic beans. I can't help but see a car as a car. No matter how you market it or distribute the energy it is going to take the same force to push it up a hill (sure engineering gets more efficient with time, but that is expected regardless of fuel). The last thing we need is another SnackWells or Atkins fixing our energy crisis. People just need to wise up and learn find joy in moderation and go ride a train or buy a bike or take a walk. Who knows, people might even lose a few pounds while they're at it.