裝上去、擋掉晃動的零件
這一支是核心畫面最看得見的樣子：一個實體零件被裝在大東西上，專門擋掉不想要的動。
noun · B2
A part or piece of equipment fitted to something such as a plane, a ship or a camera to hold it steady and stop it rolling, tipping or shaking.
穩定裝置、安定面
核心畫面
One way to hold stabilizer: something is wobbling, and you bring in a second thing whose only job is to stop the wobble. Look at the second thing, not the first. It is usually small. It is usually added, not built in from the start. It does nothing visible when things are going well, and you only notice it when it is missing. A fin under a ship, two little wheels beside a back wheel, a of something in a sauce, a sheet of backing under cloth, a calm person in a room: different objects, one job.
可以想成：有個東西在晃，於是你另外找一個東西來，它唯一的工作就是讓晃停下來。重點看的是後面那個東西。它通常很小。它通…更多收起
可以想成：有個東西在晃，於是你另外找一個東西來，它唯一的工作就是讓晃停下來。重點看的是後面那個東西。它通常很小。它通常是後來加上去的，不是本來就長在那裡。順利的時候它什麼都沒做。要等它不在了，你才注意到它。船底的一片鰭、後輪旁邊的兩顆小輪、醬料裡的一小匙添加物、布背面的一張襯、一群人裡最沉得住氣的那個人：東西完全不同，工作只有一個。From the word’s history
The packet's Wiktionary entry gives stabilizer as stabilize plus -er, and traces stabilize back to stable plus -ize. So the word is built to mean the thing that makes something stable, which is exactly the shared job across all its uses.
資料上寫 stabilizer 是 stabilize 加 -er，而 stabilize 是 stable 加 -ize。所以這個字造出來的意思就是「把東西弄穩的那個東西」，剛好就是它所有用法共有的那份工作。
Wiktionary entry for stabilizer supplied in this packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1216460384), etymology tree stable > -ize > stabilize > -er > stabilizer.
Three branches
加進去、維持狀態的物質
同樣是外加的，但這一支不是裝上去的零件，而是混進去的物質。要擋的也不是晃動，是「變化」。
noun · B2
A chemical added to something, especially a food, to keep it in the same state — for example to stop a mixture separating into layers, or to make it last longer.
穩定劑
廣義：把局面穩住的人或力量
這一支等於把核心畫面講成一句話，不限定是零件還是物質，也不限定看不看得見。
noun · B2
Any person or thing that keeps something steady, or that stops it from swinging too far in one direction.
穩住局面的人或東西