In Response To Mr. Summer's Comment: Quantum Theory and Taoism

"Look for a clue in Newtonian thought. Could all the energy of the universe , whether spent or not, be everlasting, be unchanging, be of a permanent but not static configuration, so that while there may be change, in fact, irrefutable change, the essence of matter remains constant? You may refute as you wish.
-Mr. S"

I wonder sometimes, if there really is a concrete essence of matter. The more we discover about quantum mechanics, the more I seem to find the Taoist concept of yin and yang quite agreeable. Modern quantum theory has discovered that electrons do not have a fixed place in the structure of the atom, and that they are more correctly represented as possibilities. I think this is tied to the concept of yin and yang because the "basic building blocks" of matter are, like Schrodinger's cat, not existent or nonexistent, but both at the same time. Is existence inseparable from nonexistence? Is matter merely a possibility--a mathematical statistic? If so, I think that would account for change in the universe. If matter is the interaction between existence and nonexistence, the result of which is both existent and nonexistent, then the universe would seem to be in a constant state of flux, similar to the development of an organism; an organism is the product of the interaction of two chemical energies, the mother's and father's DNA. This interaction creates something that is the mother and the father at once. From the moment of the conception, this interaction is in a constant observable flux. The body forms, then the organism (or “the interaction”) is born and begins to grow and develop. It is like a great exhalation, bursting forth into the air, until the organism begins to die; it slows and its bones become brittle, and its organs begin to cease their functioning. Dying is an equally metered inhalation after the outward burst of the exhalation.

The organism never ceased to change throughout its days, because it was an interaction between two different things. Even when there was no apparent change from one day to the other, the organism’s body was perpetually fluctuating; acidic chemicals churned around in the stomach, the heart pounded out blood and the body’s temperature increased and decreased. Similarly, what we observe of nature is the interaction between existence and nonexistence, resulting in matter, which is both existent and nonexistent, in the same way that the organism is both its mother and its father.

I don't know if this is an adequate response to your comment, Mr. Summers, or an adequate description of my thought process, but the phrase "essence of matter" made me think fairly deeply and lengthily. I hope I don't come across as assuming or grandiose in the expressing of my thoughts.