Previous Maia, Brennan file.

Heather: - this takes place one evening along the road, after Maia and Brennan have left the others for the night. This is version 5 - Bill has been involved in everything except the last statement by Maia, so there shouldn't be too many changes needed.

Editor: This is a time warp file. It was supposed to take place on the road but the text doesn't give the spare evening it requires. It fits best here.

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Narrator:
That evening when Brennan comes back from his run, he finds Maia playing with a child's toy. It is a carved wooden clown, gaily painted, and about two inches high. It looks as if it is dancing - both arms are raised above its head, and it is standing on tiptoe on one foot. She hands Brennan the clown.

Maia:
See if you can balance him on your finger.

Narrator:
Brennan looks at Maia quizzically for a moment and sees the "Teacher" look in her eyes. He smiles and takes up the challenge. Tongue bitten between his teeth, he concentrates for a few moments and after several failed attempts manages to stand the clown on his forefinger for a second or two. He grins proudly, then puts on a crestfallen face as it tumbles to the ground. Maia laughs and claps. Brennan bows.

Maia:
Not bad! (For a beginner.) Here. Attach this and see if you can do it again.

Narrator:
She hands him a curved stick with a ball carved on one end. Upon inspection, Brennan discovers that the other end of the stick fits snugly into a little hole in the clown's right hip.

Maia:
Now balance it again.

Narrator:
Brennan's jocular mood subtly changes as he takes this challenge more seriously. He starts to say something and then stops and looks at the toy again. Then he smiles and moves his finger to a new balance point about 1/3 the distance out the curved stick away from the clown's body. It balances easily.

Brennan:
Not a problem. As long as you don't insist that the balance point remain the same even in the face of changed circumstances.

Narrator:
Maia nods.

Maia:
What makes you think that you can change the balance point?

Brennan:
The balance point is not something that I choose, it's something that I recognize. At first we both looked at the clown figure by itself, recognized it as an image of something that normally balances like so...

and tried to make it work that way here. But when you gave me the curved stick and I attached it, it got me to thinking that we were allowing our interpretation of the appearance of this toy to influence what we felt was right and/or possible with it. That preconception made it look like it was impossible to balance. Anyone who did not have that preconception would have been able to balance it as easily as I did.

Narrator:
Brennan clearly feels that he's figured out what Maia was looking for, but begins to wonder when she doesn't seem to be finished.

Maia:
That's one... good. Now what about this?

Narrator:
She places the clown back on Brennan's finger, but doesn't let go of it. Brennan waits, but she continues to stand there, holding the clown on his finger. She looks up at him, eyebrows raised.

Brennan:
I see. Yes, the system has expanded. It's balanced now, but on two feet. Yours. Very appealing and quite sturdy, but far less efficient.

Narrator:
Maia makes a face at his compliment. She isn't in the mood for flirting right now, this is an Important Lesson.

Maia:
OK. It *is* balanced, but at what cost? And why is it "far less efficient"?

Brennan:
Because it takes your continued skill and attention to maintain it. You are capable of much more, and so are wasted on such a task.

Maia:
Now attach this.

Narrator:
She hands him another curved stick, this one with a fork at one end. One tip of the fork ends in a star, the other in a crescent moon. Brennan fits the stick into the hole in the clown's left hip. He puts the clown on his fingertip, and gives it a spin. It wobbles, but doesn't fall. Maia pushes down on the star - the clown dips alarmingly, but rights itself again.

Maia:
Tell me.

Brennan:
With the addition of this second stick, it's much more stable and the balance point moves again so that it fits OUR expectations of how a clown would balance. Clearly this whole toy had to be designed and weighted to work this way. And it's far more stable because of the extreme weight distribution and clever curvature of the sticks. This is neat!

Narrator:
Maia (still in Teacher mode) ignores his last comment and pushes down on the star again. As soon as the clown dips to that side, she quickly pushes down hard on the ball. The clown swings back, Maia pushes quickly on the star. This time, the clown falls off Brennan's finger, rather than recovering. Maia looks at Brennan again.

Brennan:
All right. I found this mechanism of balance most appealing because of its efficiency. But it was too weak to withstand the external forces you applied. Your "two feet" approach could have withstood that, even though it was far less efficient. So what does this mean? The obvious "Use the most efficient approach that can withstand the anticipated unbalancing forces", or something more subtle?

Maia:
But just as I was the balancing force in what you call the "two feet approach", *I* was the unbalancing force this time. Even as I attempted to balance it by compensating for my first push. If I hadn't touched the toy in the first place, it would have stayed balanced on your finger.

If I hadn't pushed so hard, it would have righted itself.

Brennan:
You were out of phase with it. I could have done the same thing without making it fall simply by timing it better and controlling the force. I'm sure you could have too.

Maia: [aloud, but to herself]
I just did. Weren't you paying attention?

Brennan: [continuing as if she hadn't spoken]
Some sloppiness can be absorbed. Excessive amounts cannot.

Maia:
Now think beyond the toy. What would it mean if it were the world?

Narrator:
Brennan picks up the toy, brushes it off and inspects it.

Brennan:
No harm done.

Narrator:
Maia nods.

Brennan:
But that's from my current perspective.

Cataclysmic.

Narrator:
Maia nods again.

Brennan:
But those can't be the consequences you want me to be concerned with, since that balance is utterly beyond our ability to aid or hinder. We are not gods.

Narrator:
Maia's face falls. She had thought he was on the right track, but he just derailed.

Maia:
Of course we aren't gods. But that has nothing to do with Balance. The gods, like everything else, have a right to their place in (and out of) the world. They can and do affect the Balance, just as everything else can and does affect the Balance.

As one of my Teachers said, "The gods are the mighty beings of the multi-verse -- but they are not of the Tuath. The greatest Druid is a dwarf in the midst of gods -- but she is a dwarf to be reckoned with. We cannot afford to follow one god, for Every God Represents a Belief, and we must Strive to See All, Believe All, and Understand All if we are to Preserve All. The gods are like the largest animals, cavorting in their glorious meadows, and we are the field mice. Though we are ignored, when one of the animals stumbles in one of our holes and falls, that god knows what we have done."

Every field mouse can affect the Balance.

Brennan:
Yes, I can see that, but these are all different balances, at different "levels", in different localities and only interact on their boundaries. Local events such as excessive deer populations will not themselves directly cause rockslides in the southern mountains, but they could be related thru "ripples". When I say that we cannot affect the worldwide balance since we are not gods, I mean that we can only affect our local environment and *hope* that the "ripples" will propagate true to our purpose. And none of us is wise enough and knowledgable enough to really be able to have predictable far-reaching impact like that. We would be dabblers. Only gods can have that far reaching an effect with any confidence.

Yes, every field mouse can affect the Balance. But can it do it in a way that it desires? Can it even conceive of all of the consequences of its actions? How can a Druid be much more than that? Yes, I think we should *try* to keep the Balance (after we figure out where it is and why it needs "keeping"), but we should never assert that - or act as if - we *can* keep the Balance.

I can relate to it better if you mean the balance in our lives, or in the life around us. In that arena, I believe I understand - and always have. We can choose what seems right and have a good chance of making it so.

Maia:
And what would it mean if you are the world and it is a only a part of the world? Do you fall over even if it falls off your finger?

Brennan:
No, but I would be less for having lost it... *I* would bend to pick it back up, or, failing that, mourn its loss. I expect the world can do neither.

Maia:
And when you bend over, what if you fall? Or what if I nudge you just behind the knees?? If you were standing, you could stay standing, but if you were already a little off balance...

Brennan:
Then I would fall. Yes, small ripples can add up to big waves.

Maia:
And why should you mourn it? Would you have mourned its loss an hour ago, when you did't know it existed? Will you still mourn it tomorrow, when you are busy with something else?

Brennan:
I would mourn it because I know what it might have been. I would not have mourned it earlier, and I might not mourn it tomorrow. I go on, as does the world.

Maia:
Balance Is All. But what has this taught you about how we should Act to Preserve the Balance? What are our options? Which should we choose?

Brennan:
I agree that Balance Is All. But I also believe that the balance changes, and that we should not try to force it to stay in the same place. How the balance has moved and whether or not we should try to affect it is a matter for (possibly endless) debate. Each participant in such a discussion would of course want to ensure that "balance" includes their own goals. That implies that the wisest, most experienced, and therefore farthest-seeing minds should be the ones that should carry the discussion and educate the others. And the goal should be minimizing intervention, and striving for what is for the greatest good of All.

I still have problems dealing with some aspects of All, though, such as short-sighted and selfish people. [grins] But then I'm hardly the wisest, most experienced, or farthest-seeing around. Hopefully I'll keep learning.

Maia: [acerbically]
Hopefully. You certainly aren't finished.

But that is a pretty good start. Balance and How to Maintain It has been the subject of intense discussion among Druids for centuries. We certainly aren't going to find the Final Answer in one evening.

*I* don't even know exactly where I stand in the argument. But I'll try to give you an idea, because it will help you understand why I do what I do (or don't do) in terms of Castle Llughen.

Narrator:
She takes the clown again and holds it firmly with one hand while it sits on the forefinger of the other.

Maia:
This is Balance. But it isn't Life - I could hold it here forever, unchanging, but that in itself isn't Balanced.

The world tends to Balance itself, without my help - just as the toy is balanced by the sun and moon on one side and the sphere on the other. There may not be just a single opposing force which Balances another force; often there are combinations of forces that act together.

I can affect the world and the Balance, by pushing it out of Balance, just as I can affect the movement of the toy. Sometimes it's good to do that, just to get movement again - stagnation isn't always what is best for the world.

I can also push it back into Balance, by applying more force to one of the opposing forces to balance out a stronger force on the other side. Sometimes I need to do that - to keep the world from toppling out of Balance.

But I believe it is possible to overreact to a little movement. And the overreaction can cause wild fluctuations. And then I could overreact to those fluctuations, and cause even wilder ones - soon the world is completely UnBalanced - and I caused it. If I had waited, it would have righted itself.

The hardest part of my job is knowing when to let the world Balance itself, and when to apply force - or add a new force, just as we added the second stick. If I act too soon, I can upset the Balance. If I act too late, I may not be able to save it. If I don't act at all - then what purpose do I have?

That is why I have to gather as much information and knowledge as I can, before I act - but be ready to act even if I haven't gathered everything possible.

Narrator:
She takes the toy apart and replaces it in her pack. Then begins to make preparations for sleep.

Maia has not mentioned Brennan's discussion of the scope of Druids' ability to affect the Balance versus the gods' ability. That is Druid Business of the Highest Order. He doesn't notice the omission, assuming that she agreed with him.

It's easiest for Brennan and Maia if you follow Jhereg for a bit