We are in what I like to call — a state of “Tenuous Equilibrium (TE)”; a system can be said to be in this state when even the “slightest” change (perturbation) in its current state will instantaneously alter its state; hence while due to some combination of forces the system (pictured above) happens to be in equilibrium — the equilibrium itself is ‘tenuous’.

To understand equilibrium- the example from Game Theory may be instructive: for instance, a Nash Equilibrium (NE) occurs when the “players” in a “game” have little incentive to change their strategy and move to a different state. The players are said to be in NE. If you notice carefully, in a sense NE is the exact opposite of TE!

These plates are under a set of forces that’s holding them in TE. One external “push” and the “potentiality” of the future state — whose path in fact is largely deterministic (I have no way to prove it other than by drawing a “force diagram”) — will have been realized.

In a sense human life too is in a state of TE although just as with the example of Schrödinger’s plates, this TE can actually stay (almost) indefinitely unless an external force activates the TE to change. Ergo, until someone opens the door (the external force) the plates will stay. We were all happily going about our business — even if in a state of TE till March, 2020 when the external push in the form of hashtag#covid-19 came about and changed everything!