2023.10.30. Velocity and Speed.

In Physics, one fundamental differentiation is that between the vector

and the scalar. A vector has a size and a direction. A scalar only has a size. So, an example might be
“seven meters”, which is scalar, and then “seven meters East”, which is a vector.
Now here is something interesting. In everyday language, people often use “velocity” and “speed”
interchangeably. After all, they are both terms that describe a change in distance over time, so they are
equivalent right? Far from the truth!
Speed takes the total distance traveled, and divides it by total time. It does not matter where the
person or thing is, or whether they roam to and fro. Speed takes everything and divides it by time.
Because it is scalar; there is no direction associated with it.

Velocity, however, takes the displacement, and divides this by total time. Displacement demands a
knowledge of direction and position. A person must start from Here and go over There.

Displacement watches where the person starts and where he stops, and takes those two Objective
points, and compares them. It does not matter how many steps you have taken; if you started Here,
and walked for miles, but then ended up back Here, your velocity is Zero. Speed says that you were
going twenty miles an hour, forty, sixty! But Speed does not have the Eye of Direction. Your velocity,
if you end up back where you started, is Zero.
But, because in the real world, we often end up over There, speed and velocity are also often the same.
The distance between where things start and stop is often the same as the distance they traveled.
But what if we look at it another way?
In life, there are many walks. Some strive and struggle and go great distances. Some lounge and do
not go far. Physically speaking, the people who rise by toil are more accomplished than the others
behind them. They have reason for pride, because just look at their total distance divided by time! But
there is a hitch. Their success has no Eye of Direction.
Yes, speed asks, “How far did you go, and how many steps did you take?” But the Eye of Direction
asks, “Where did you go, and where have these steps taken you?”
Because when it comes to the velocity of life, no matter how far you run or walk, you will find that in
the end, we all return to a place called Here. It does not matter how many steps you take, we all fall
back to a place where we were before – be that spiritually, emotionally, or mentally. This is the
answer to why we sense sometimes that there really is no difference between those who “succeed” and
those who “don’t”. All face the same struggles, and all fall back time and again to Zero.
It is one of the biggest lies in society that velocity and speed are the same.
What shall it profit a man if he conquer all the steps in the world, and lose his destination of There?
What shall it profit a man if he rises above and exceeds the speeds of all other men, only to discover
that in the objective Eye of Direction, his velocity is still Zero?
“…what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36