Newton’s Third Law as it Relates to Human Nature

The Art Room - a center for conversations and fun experiments on Friday afternoon.

Newton's Third Law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This might seem like pure physics, but as I was mulling over ideas for this week's post, I realized the principle extends powerfully into human dynamics.

I began thinking about my home—the North Country of New York State—and the friction between generations-old residents and newcomers who arrive as students or professors at one of our four universities. It's a dynamic I've struggled to explain to people from outside the region.

The best way to describe the mindset of native North Country folks is to reflect on the geography itself. As with most isolated places, the North Country has traditionally been cut off and left behind. In the early days, the wilderness of the Adirondack Mountains to the south acted as a barrier not only to goods but also to new ideas, innovations, trends, and fads. Many of the original settlers came from Canada, Vermont, and Massachusetts—including my own ancestors. These were stoically, resilient people, already accustomed to hardscrabble living (which probably explains why so many roads in this area bear that name), seeking the farmland and natural resources found in abundance here.

As transportation options were invented and roads modernized, more people found their way here, and it became easier to leave. Passenger trains were an alternative, with stations in each small village, until the 50s or 60s, when these routes were discontinued as the interstate system was built. Today, a personal vehicle is essential to go anywhere. The closest airports have limited destinations and are heavily subsidized by the federal government. Most residents must travel at least two to three hours to reach a larger airport. 

All to say—though we are less isolated now, both geographically and through digital connection, that independent, survivalist, stubborn mindset endures. This is where Newton's Third Law comes into play. Direct resistance to new ideas, innovation, and progress—the action—brings inevitable consequences: the reaction. This resistance is so deeply embedded in our collective psyche that we continually make choices that work against our own best interests, including our voting patterns.

The indirect impact of those decisions is devastating. This past week, Claxton-Hepburn Hospital announced the closure of all its clinics across the North Country. One hundred twenty people lost their jobs, and our already strained healthcare system took another blow—pushing us closer to becoming a medical care desert. With health insurance costs soaring, people will delay or avoid care altogether. The result will be preventable deaths.

Other factors contributed to this crisis, but the root cause traces directly to the bill Congress passed this summer. This isn’t politics as usual. It’s cruelty dressed up as policy, sold to the public through lies and propaganda, while real people lose access to the care that keeps them alive. 

This is not an attempt to blame the victims—I place the full weight of responsibility for every tragedy on this regime and its propaganda machine. As an anthropologist, I'm trained to observe human behavior and identify patterns. Our resistance to change runs so deep in our culture that breaking free requires more than information or argument—it demands understanding the historical forces that forged it.​
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That's my job—as a multigenerational member of this community, a writer, and a mentor at Deep Root Center: to illuminate the opportunities that emerge when we choose curiosity over assumption, when we ask questions instead of accepting inherited answers, and when we make decisions based on concern, empathy, and current realities rather than clinging to strategies that once worked but no longer serve us.
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Given access to information and permission to explore genuine possibilities, our young people can break cycles of poverty and isolation that have persisted for generations—while preserving what defines us: the resilience, independence, and deep connection to this beautiful place we call home.

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DRC News

Weekly Wrap-up

With MLK Day on Monday, it was another short week. We managed to pack those three days with plenty of activities,  projects, and good vibes. Unfortunately, we forgot to document most everything on Tuesday and Thursday, but tried to make up for it on Friday. 

We said goodbye to Lilly, our DRC apprentice. We are grateful for everything she brought to our crew- her positivity, welcoming presence, love for books and music, and most especially her joyful laughter. We will all miss her, but we send her off with our thanks and very best wishes for a bright future.

Besides the usual projects and activities, our designated cooks made chocolate cake with vanilla frosting for Lilly and chicken quesadillas for lunch.

Maria's mom even stopped in unexpectedly to get help with an iPad issue she was having. Thanks, TS, for assisting. 

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Goodbye, Lilly