Instead, what science does is to methodically go about proving that something is known. Believe it not, there are varying degrees or states of how well something is known. Even the phrase, "You practiced good science", is an indication and a compliment to the proper execution and art of establishing knowledge. We have all taken the subject of science at some point through our school years and many of the facts I may state, you have likely heard before. If this is the case, please bear with me and look upon these occurrences throughout the chapters as refreshers.

So, how does one go about practicing good science? We all remember being taught in school how to properly perform experiments, the various steps that must be followed, and the way to write up the experiment as a report. This is where science traditionally likes to start with establishing knowledge, through experimental evidence. Science then moves up the ladder in terms of establishing increasing degrees of certainty about the evidence. Wherever possible, there first needs to be either a lot of observations or experimental evidence to record that events and outcomes happen the way they do. It must all be very well documented and very repeatable. It must be so repeatable that another scientist anywhere in the world could make the same observation or conduct the same experiment and obtain the same results.

Although the methodology is being somewhat oversimplified, the strength and certainty of the knowledge follows a prescribed path in the scientific community. If the observations and experiments are about something non-trivial and the events are important to science, the first step on this ladder of knowledge is to refer to the conclusions or ideas as a hypothesis. Only after much further investigation and substantiation may the hypothesis be called a theory. Theories are also intended to cover the broadest area possible of a given topic. For example, there is the theory of flight and it addresses all of the aerodynamic principles involved with flying. It does not make sense to just have a theory about wings as this is would only provide part of the picture. Science would frown upon this incomplete picture and would require that more work be done to improve and expand the knowledge to provide as complete coverage as possible.

Beyond a theory, science requires that the knowledge becomes so profound, so well understood, and so predictable that it may be referred to as a law. A law in science is something that is nearly impossible to break. If a person could find numerous ways to break a scientific law, there would be a major furor in the scientific community and the law would likely go into ‘obscurity’. For example, the average person would be hard-pressed to disprove the laws of gravity.

Science is the state of knowing and it may build from a mere experiment to a hypothesis, then a theory, and finally to a law.

Returning to the subject matter, let us begin to describe the force of simplification. This theory is really quite straightforward and it states that over a period of time any object or any material will be reduced to its most simple and most random form. The simplicity and randomness may be referred to by some as chaos or disorder.

This force is incredibly powerful and it is constantly at work throughout our world and the universe itself. The force of simplification is extraordinary and applies to everything and anything in the universe with only one exception. The exception is that it does not apply to anything that is living. All living things are governed by another force that is totally different. In the simple model of our world and universe that I propose, everything can be separated and identified as being affected by one force or the other. For the model, all of the matter in the universe goes into two categories and it is either living or non-living.

There is nothing incomprehensible or difficult about this theory. In fact, once it is described you may comment that it is extremely rudimentary. The theory is not very detailed when it comes to quantifying the force. There are no units of measure such as you might find with other concepts like weight, speed, temperature, or pressure. Also, there is no quantification as to the amount of time required for the force of simplification to act and complete its effects.

The theory of simplification is that over a period of time anything that is complex will eventually be reduced to a simpler form. Any complex item will be reduced to its most basic elements and all structures and shapes will be reduced to random forms. Also, this force is extremely powerful. Absolutely nothing can stop this force from eventually acting upon on any type of matter and reducing it to a more random and simple form. It is as though this force has an abhorrence for the complex and wants to reduce it to a natural and simpler state.

It is important to remember that this force acts throughout the entire universe and applies to everything except matter that is in a living state.

The force is easy to observe and it is all around us, but we seldom bother to formally recognize it. Yet without taking serious notice of its existence, many human beings, without realizing it, are in a constant effort to counteract and labor against what could be considered its continuous onslaught. The force of simplification, and the state of universe it desires, can be observed everywhere. Let us consider some examples of what is meant by this. Picture a sea coast. If observed from an airplane, its shape and outline is totally random. Upon a closer view, if there are cliffs, they will likely be jagged, totally erratic in shape, and without any organization. If there is a beach, contours in the sand will be random. Random shapes will be created and changed by the blowing of the wind, falling of the rain, and the washing of the waves. Even the chemical makeup of these materials will be comparatively simple and will be close to the base chemical elements.

The force is acting constantly and nothing complex is allowed to stay static, or the same, for an indefinite period of time. The time period might be very short. For example, you might take a close-up picture of a portion of sand on a beach framed by some naturally occurring objects such as small stones. The photograph captures the exact patterns, uniqueness, and the formation of the surrounding objects. Returning the very next day, you go to the exact same spot and find that the sand patterns and its surroundings are no longer the same. Regardless whether the change occurred that day, or the next, we know for this example it is bound to happen due to the forces of the wind, waves, or rain. Another situation might be that a child uses their imagination and creativity to build a sand castle on a beach. The next day it will be quite likely that the forces have taken their toll and reduced the intricate shapes to far simpler forms.

Think about a range of mountains. Their size and grandeur appear to make them complex, but upon careful examination of their shapes and structure the disorder becomes apparent. Then, when you reflect on the vastness and size of the mountains you might want to conclude that they are indestructible, invincible, and will last forever. For mountains, the time period might be very long for the force to act in any noticeable manner. You might go up into that range and take a photograph of a majestic mountain with its irregular silhouette against a beautiful sky. There are jagged cliffs, rocks and outcroppings of all kinds. You may come back several years later to the same spot to ‘compare’ your photographs, only to find them identical. How long can you be assured they will stay identical? We realize that you cannot be totally assured of this. Heat, cold, wind, ice, rain, snow and glaciers may all act as part of the force to wear the mountain down and change its shape. These effects may take hundreds and thousands of years to become observable. Yet, the force can act far swifter than that. There might be an earthquake, or volcanic action, that changes your picture the very next year or the very next week.

Next, you look out over the ocean. The waves are random shapes and patterns. There is no organization or complexity as you cannot predict the next large wave and where the next crest will break. One day the waves are still and the ocean is calm. The next day may bring great waves due to turbulent weather. Everything is simple and random. Drop a stone into a quiet pond where the surface is calm and smooth. This act has caused a more complex pattern to emerge. The waves formed by the falling stone radiate in a circular manner and the pattern of wavelets looks organized, looks complex. Wait, you continue observing for just a short period of time and the force of simplification has already acted. No pattern will remain. Nothing will remain complex.

If you examine or imagine any place on this Earth, in its oceans, deserts, fields and mountains: the makeup of all of these places is random and simple. They are totally and absolutely without organization. It is only when you add living things that these same places look organized and complex. Without the trees and the grasses, all these places would be desolate. That is one of the very deceptive features of this force when people try to observe it. What happens is that there is so much living matter that it is very easy to be confused. You see all that is living with its beauty, regularity, and complexity, that it is easy to be misled. The field looks complex and organized, but it is because of the living grasses. The mountain side may look regular and organized, but it is because of life in the form of trees or bushes. They cover the simplicity and obscure the disorder that is beneath them.

Due to the abundance of life, maybe the better viewpoint to witness the force of simplification is to leave the planet Earth. The surface of our moon is as irregular, random and as simple as it gets. There are relatively flat and unscathed surface areas as well as innumerable craters of all shapes, sizes, that even overlap each other. How complex do you think the chemical makeup of the moon is? Is it a mere aggregate of chemical elements and minerals that vary in size from dust particles to major outcroppings?

If all life was stripped off the Earth, the beautiful blue water, white clouds and land shapes would remain. What would the Earth be like without life? It would not be as stark and as desolate as the moon, but everything would be as random, irregular, and as simple as possible.