The probabilistic distributions of matter and energy give the direction
toward which processes spontaneously tend to go. However, every existing process is
presently in force because of some kinetic barrier or restraint that operated in the past:
were it not for kinetic restraints (and constraints that were eventually removed by past
processes), all the ongoing processes, and their causal antecedents, had already
occurred billions of years ago. The role of constraints and restraints is therefore
fundamental to establish the actual direction a real process can take, as well as its
velocity.
Keywords: Absolute minimum, Activation free energy, Earth’s thermal gradient,
Free energy, Kinetic barrier, Local minimum, Metastable equilibrium, Restraints,
Stable thermodynamic equilibrium, Thermodynamic equilibrium, Transition state.
