There are a few reasons why things change:
1. Time – As time passes, things naturally evolve and transform. Time applies a gradual pressure that drives change. Even if left completely undisturbed, most things will change over time due to processes like aging, erosion and entropy.
2. Energy – All things are made of energy, and energy is always in motion. The flow and exchange of energy within and between systems drives constant change and evolution. Energy drives processes like growth, motion and chemical reactions that alter existing forms.
3. Interactions – Things do not exist in isolation. As they interact with their environments and with each other, those interactions cause changes in their structures, functioning and relationships. Without external interactions, many things would remain static.
4. Life – Living things have the innate drive of self-preservation and reproduction, which compels them to grow, evolve, adapt and change in order to survive and reproduce successfully. The mechanics of life embed change within its very code and structure.
5. Human activity – Human choices, actions, inventions, discoveries and interventions trigger immense changes both intentionally and unintentionally. Our impact ripples outward, changing social structures, economies, ecologies and more.
In summary, time, energy, interactions, life and humanity all exert overlapping forces that continuously reshape the world. Some changes occur gradually, while others happen abruptly. But constancy and permanence are quite rare – change is the pervasive rule.
Here are a few more points to consider:
1. **Environment**: The environment in which something exists significantly influences its changes. This applies to physical environments (such as weather patterns affecting the evolution of species) and social environments (like societal attitudes influencing cultural norms over time).
2. **External Forces**: Factors outside of an object or system can instigate change. An external force can be anything from physical pressure causing a solid object to change shape, to market forces causing a shift in business strategy.
3. **Internal Changes**: Changes can also come from within an object or system. This can be a genetic mutation leading to new traits in an organism, or an individual changing their mind based on introspection.
4. **Chance and Randomness**: Not all changes can be anticipated or explained by external or internal factors. Sometimes, random events or chance also play a significant role.
5. **Imperfections**: The imperfections and variations inherent in all objects and systems lead to changes over time. No two things are completely alike, and this variety can create the potential for change as different qualities might confer different advantages or disadvantages in various contexts.
6. **Unpredictability of Complex Systems**: Some systems, like the weather or human societies, are so complex that small initial differences can lead to wildly different outcomes, a concept known as sensitivity to initial conditions, or the “butterfly effect”.
Adding these factors to your excellent analysis helps to capture a fuller picture of why things change. However, it’s important to note that this list is not exhaustive, and that often several factors overlap and interact to drive changes.