The Push and Pull of the Cosmic Drama

Within Potentialism, you’ll find frequent references to a cosmic push and pull. In his more philosophical writings, Birnbaum notes the relation of this concept to human creation, the push and pull of the masculine and feminine and the act of creation itself. As we’ll see in a later chapter on life itself, this allusion to human experience is made with purpose. The same form of Potentialism that guides human evolution and procreation is very similar to what takes place on the cosmic scale. This is because of the universal nature of Potentialism. Potentialism predicts that its effects play out universally.

Whether talking about human life, the greater cosmos or the world on the micro, quantum scale, the effects on Potentialism can be seen throughout. This push and pull particularly is the result, per Birnbaum, of the interaction between Q4P and E+. Where Q4P provides the impulse and power for change and creation, it is the equal pull of Extraordinariation that gives it purpose and direction. This push and pull give rise, on a cosmic scale, to Complexification.

In cosmological physics, in particular, we can see the results of this Complexification (C+) in the epochs that have occurred, from the formation of the first atoms to the birth of stars and

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the subsequent creation of heavy elements, life and even mankind. All follow the pre-ordained path determined by an infinite Q4P in its endless quest to seek out its own Extraordinariation.

If that is a new word, don’t worry. We’ll discuss epochs in more detail in the next chapters. For now, just understand the definition of an epoch as the beginning of a distinctive period in the history of something. Think of the universe before plants ever existed. At some point in history, there was no such thing as a plant. So, we consider the birth of the first plant an epoch. An epoch is some total game-changer that makes the universe different. Since the universe follows the laws of Potentialism, that also means the universe gets more complex at each epoch.

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