Chaos Versus Order

Two positions in constant conflict, which will be the victor?

I'm a self-admitted sword and sorcery geek. One of the escapist activities of my misspent youth in rural 1960s Mississippi was scouring the paperback racks at local stores for those great pulp sword and sorcery novels. This addiction persists to this day – Larry Correia, a fellow Utahan, is a major favorite. I have immensely enjoyed his character Ashok Vadal in the "Sons of the Black Sword" series, which is concluding with his latest book.

Another favorite is the British author, Michael Moorcock. Moorcock wrote a series of books about Elric of Melniboné, a tragic albino king who wields the evil black runesword Stormbringer. Elric was the last emperor of Melniboné, ruler of the dreaming city of Imrryr, and keeper of the Ruby Throne.

The tales of Correia's Ashok and Moorcock's Elric both delve into profound themes: the struggles between life and death, fate versus free will, the rise and fall of cultures, good versus evil, old gods versus new, and the quest for meaning in one's existence. Above all, they explore the eternal conflict between the Lords of Law and the Lords of Chaos.

I've often pondered which is more powerful – chaos or order (I will use the term “law” interchangeably with “order”). I lean towards order, but then one might ask, if order is paramount, why does chaos exist? In theological terms, this mirrors the question, "If God exists, why does He allow bad things to happen to good people?"

Here's my understanding of these questions:

Nature often works in layers, from rocks to snow. I've seen this in Kemmerer, Wyoming, where ancient sea life fossils are embedded in prehistoric sedimentary rock. I've also observed different layers in deep snow, each laid down by successive storms. This led me to see that order and chaos might function similarly.

When viewed through the lens of layered existence, many events we label as chaotic are manifestations of order. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and even earthquakes are catastrophic on one level, but on another, these are natural systems releasing energy to achieve stasis. Even on a planetary scale, events like solar coronal ejections can cause chaos, like the Carrington Event in 1859, if the Earth and Sun align in specific ways.

There are also natural stresses that dissipate quietly as part of a balancing cycle. Snowfall removes moisture from the atmosphere, which then melts into rivers and lakes, eventually evaporating back into the atmosphere, maintaining a balance regardless of how much snow falls.

My point is that what seems like chaos on one level might be order on another – suggesting that the Lords of Law are more powerful than the Lords of Chaos.

This theory extends to human interactions as well. Rather than seeing Democrats or Republicans, I conceptualize politics in terms of chaos and order. I perceive Democrats as serving the Lords of Chaos, particularly since the civil unrest of the 60s, acting as disruptors. With issues like transgenderism challenging biological binaries, they reach new heights of chaos.

From a societal perspective, these actions seem akin to natural disasters. I struggle to understand how the higher level benefits from such stresses, perhaps it is in the same way we learn to manage natural disasters like wildfires through better forest management and building codes.

This also suggests that chaos cannot be eliminated but can be managed. The more tightly one tries to control chaos, the more violently it reacts – which might explain the inherent failures of communist regimes. Communism attempts to control everything, to contain all pressures, leading to inevitable collapse, while capitalism allows these pressures to be released gradually and harmlessly.

Perhaps this makes sense, perhaps not – but I always seem to gravitate toward simple explanations that exist in nature and this has the ring of truth to me.