294 | Addy Pross on Dynamics, Stability, and Life

196.091 - 219.786 Sean Carroll

So the energy is dissipated into the environment and it makes perfect sense to us that the ball ends up on the bottom of the hill. Why am I telling you this? Because physicists have a way of thinking about structures that persist for extended periods of time. Stable structures, in other words. The ball rolling down a hill and getting to the bottom of the valley is a paradigmatic example.