Living With Constraints

We can’t always do what we want. We learn that we just have to put up with a world bounded by endless constraints. Sometimes we do so because there’s no choice, sometimes because we realize that the world’s better off if we comply. Our constraints have origins. Physics limits us without any possible compromise. Society evolves restrictive rules of behavior that permit civil society to flourish. Many of our constraints, however, are solely self-imposed. Can we even tell when we have constrained ourselves? The elements of this sculpture move freely, except the ball on the rod. The ball is constrained to only rotate, not travel about like all the other elements. How frustrating! From the ball’s perspective, this constraint seems obviously the fault of the brass ring, perpetually encircling it and always in the way. But perception can be misleading: removing the ring will not free up the ball, which turns out to be constrained instead by the underlying geometry of the sculpture’s design.