Chaos and Meaning: An Exploration of the "Elan Vital"

Why does a tree grow upwards, stretching its branches towards the heavens? Why does a rock fall to the ground, thudding heavily into it, staying where it has been set as the world beneath it spins through the rest of the galaxy? Within every living thing, there is a force which moves our perceptions and choices towards a point of chaos and creativity; through this effect, the purpose of this force becomes clear as it transforms multiple disorderly organisms into a purposeful composite.

Henry Bergonson, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, spoke of life as being "obligatorily driven toward increasing complexity by a creative force, the elan vital." This life-force works towards a goal of perfection through the manifestation of disorderly conduct.

Science has answered our questions, one by one; the tree supports its existence and ensures its own survival by building up a structure in which its leaves can most efficiently collect the sunlight which will eventually be transformed, by an intense chemical reaction, into the tree's source of energy. The rock falls thanks to a massive space-warp formed by the planet beneath it, creating a pit in the fabric of space-time and drawing the smaller object into this deep hole. Each and every force that takes hold of these physical members has been, or will soon be, examined and quantified, defined through a series of precise and perfectly accurate scientific equations.