Less Is More: Clockwise vs Counterclockwise

Papa Bale sets up an experiment to figure out which spin direction works best — clockwise or counterclockwise. The round magnets on the wheel are randomly placed, though he tried to balance it a bit. On the outside, two big magnets across from each other are pulling to stabilize everything, while two silver ones are pushing. He explains that when a magnet passes through the silver one, it gets pushed on, but when it gets beyond the halfway mark, it gets pushed down. There's a little space in the middle where the opposite force is present, so all the magnets on the wheel will slow things down unless you get the configuration just right. The more magnets you put on, the more force and weight you have to deal with, and the slower everything gets. That's where "less is more" fits in. When it was just a naked disc on top of another disc with a pole going through the middle, it would spin for almost ten minutes with no batteries or anything hooked up. He tests clockwise first, giving it just enough of a push to get over the hump. He thinks clockwise will be the weaker direction because of how the outer magnets are set up. Then he tries counterclockwise, spinning it even more gently. He finds they're about the same actually. Papa Bale discusses how the poles act like electromagnets because they're always pulling toward the pole, no matter what side you put on. He experiments with adding a seventh magnet to break the symmetry and prevent the zero-out effect. He talks about open source information sharing and how major breakthroughs will happen because of it. He explains that the only friction in this setup is a tiny bit in the middle where the hole has opened up a little bit around the pole. Even though the magnets aren't directly over each other, there's virtual friction from the overlapping fields. He concludes by emphasizing that you have to put energy in to make anything happen — whether you flick it, kick it, or shoot it out of a coil gun, you're the one making it happen.