Difference between revisions of "Reality"
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* From time to time physicists get closer to their goal, only to see it fade away again as new experiments are performed. | * From time to time physicists get closer to their goal, only to see it fade away again as new experiments are performed. | ||
* From time to time some eminent scientist or philosopher claims that the end definition for [[Reality]] is near. It never works out that way. We humans are arrogant, but limited by our own capabilities. | * From time to time some eminent scientist or philosopher claims that the end definition for [[Reality]] is near. It never works out that way. We humans are arrogant, but limited by our own capabilities. | ||
| − | * In 1931 Max Planck, the originator of the quantum, made his position clear, namely that [[Reality]] is that of which we are conscious. “I regard [[Consciousness]] as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from [[Consciousness]]. We cannot get behind | + | * In 1931 Max Planck, the originator of the quantum, made his position clear, namely that [[Reality]] is that of which we are conscious. “I regard [[Consciousness]] as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from [[Consciousness]]. We cannot get behind [[Consciousness]]. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates [[Consciousness]].” |
| − | * An early attempt at making sense of modern physics was supplied by JBS Haldane<ref>JBS Haldane, ''Possible Worlds'' (1927) https://jbshaldane.org/books/1927-Possible-Worlds/haldane-1927-possible-worlds.html#Page_260</ref> in 1927 before Quantum Mechanics had yet been codified.<blockquote>It is usual to begin with time and space. I remember convincing myself of the arbitrary character of Euclid’s or any equivalent parallel postulate by imagining myself into a ‘Riemann’s’ or elliptical space, in which all co-planar lines meet once. I was standing on a transparent plane. I could see it as I looked down. If I looked up I saw the other side of it, and through it the soles of my boots, pointing backwards. By looking round I could see every point on the plane, and most of them from both sides. I soon began to get intuitive proofs of many of the more elementary propositions in that rather bizarre geometry. I therefore ceased to trust ‘proofs’ of that type in Euclidean geometry. Of course, any mathematician with a visual imagination can do this, and Einstein has left common sense space in a badly damaged condition. So we will consider some possibilities about time. Time is more interesting and inaccessible than space because it is given in our inner experience as well as our experience of the world. I am now aware of a ‘specious present’ of experience about two seconds in length at most, in which I see moving objects and hear sound sequences. I cannot, however, be directly conscious at the same time of a series of events lasting for more than two seconds. A long life consists of about a thousand million specious presents or ‘nows.’ Of course they overlap, but it is convenient to take them as units. My | + | * An early attempt at making sense of modern physics was supplied by JBS Haldane<ref>JBS Haldane, ''Possible Worlds'' (1927) https://jbshaldane.org/books/1927-Possible-Worlds/haldane-1927-possible-worlds.html#Page_260</ref> in 1927 before Quantum Mechanics had yet been codified.<blockquote>It is usual to begin with time and space. I remember convincing myself of the arbitrary character of Euclid’s or any equivalent parallel postulate by imagining myself into a ‘Riemann’s’ or elliptical space, in which all co-planar lines meet once. I was standing on a transparent plane. I could see it as I looked down. If I looked up I saw the other side of it, and through it the soles of my boots, pointing backwards. By looking round I could see every point on the plane, and most of them from both sides. I soon began to get intuitive proofs of many of the more elementary propositions in that rather bizarre geometry. I therefore ceased to trust ‘proofs’ of that type in Euclidean geometry. Of course, any mathematician with a visual imagination can do this, and Einstein has left common sense space in a badly damaged condition. So we will consider some possibilities about time. Time is more interesting and inaccessible than space because it is given in our inner experience as well as our experience of the world. I am now aware of a ‘specious present’ of experience about two seconds in length at most, in which I see moving objects and hear sound sequences. I cannot, however, be directly conscious at the same time of a series of events lasting for more than two seconds. A long life consists of about a thousand million specious presents or ‘nows.’ Of course they overlap, but it is convenient to take them as units. My [[Consciousness]] at the present moment is in a special relationship to that at other moments in my past. It remembers a few of them, and is influenced by many of them. It has not got this relation to events in my future, or in your past or future. The fact that relations of this type exist determines my personal identity and also my knowledge of time. The perception of change, e.g. motion, within a specious present might still exist with a different type of relation between specious presents. There is nothing inconceivable in my looking out of the railway window in 1924 at objects which I am passing, being conscious of the motion, and remembering performing the same journey in 1923 and 1925. In this present world unless gifted with second sight I can only remember the former. If therefore we can imagine a different type of relation between ‘nows,’ there is no need to postulate a very different content of each from the normal in order to find ourselves in a different world.</blockquote><blockquote>‘Here,’ we say, ‘is a microscope which makes this fly look a thousand times its real size. Hence, corresponding to this other oblong image which I see, there must be a small and intangible object of one-thousandth its size. I will call it a bacillus.’ We do not dream of questioning the reality of such invisible and intangible objects, and down to the size of bacteria our assumptions work very well. But we cannot magnify objects much smaller than a wave-length of light; and yet we go on supposing that space has still just the same properties as the space in which we find that the evidences of our vision and touch agree with one another. It is not until we get down to the dimensions of an atom that space and time cease to have the properties familiar to us.</blockquote><blockquote>Man is after all only a little freer than a barnacle. Our bodily and mental activities are fairly rigidly confined to those which have had survival value to our ancestors during the last few million generations. Our own appraisal of these activities is dictated to some extent by other considerations than their survival value, but their nature is limited by our past. We have learned to think on two different lines—one which enables us to deal with situations in which we find ourselves in relation to our fellow-men, another for corresponding situations with regard to inanimate objects. We are pretty nearly incapable of any other types of thought. And so we regard an electron as a thing, and God as a person,[9] and are surprised to find ourselves entangled in quantum mechanics and the Athanasian Creed.</blockquote> |
==How a Physicist explains Reality== | ==How a Physicist explains Reality== | ||
Revision as of 14:30, 25 April 2024
Contents
Full Title or Meme
There is no reality except as the ideas that we create based our sensory inputs.
Context
- It is not likely that any two people will have the same ideas about reality as they cannot share all of their sensory inputs.
- The primary goal of physics research is to create a common idea of reality. They have not and never will achieve this goal.
- From time to time physicists get closer to their goal, only to see it fade away again as new experiments are performed.
- From time to time some eminent scientist or philosopher claims that the end definition for Reality is near. It never works out that way. We humans are arrogant, but limited by our own capabilities.
- In 1931 Max Planck, the originator of the quantum, made his position clear, namely that Reality is that of which we are conscious. “I regard Consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from Consciousness. We cannot get behind Consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates Consciousness.”
- An early attempt at making sense of modern physics was supplied by JBS Haldane[1] in 1927 before Quantum Mechanics had yet been codified.
It is usual to begin with time and space. I remember convincing myself of the arbitrary character of Euclid’s or any equivalent parallel postulate by imagining myself into a ‘Riemann’s’ or elliptical space, in which all co-planar lines meet once. I was standing on a transparent plane. I could see it as I looked down. If I looked up I saw the other side of it, and through it the soles of my boots, pointing backwards. By looking round I could see every point on the plane, and most of them from both sides. I soon began to get intuitive proofs of many of the more elementary propositions in that rather bizarre geometry. I therefore ceased to trust ‘proofs’ of that type in Euclidean geometry. Of course, any mathematician with a visual imagination can do this, and Einstein has left common sense space in a badly damaged condition. So we will consider some possibilities about time. Time is more interesting and inaccessible than space because it is given in our inner experience as well as our experience of the world. I am now aware of a ‘specious present’ of experience about two seconds in length at most, in which I see moving objects and hear sound sequences. I cannot, however, be directly conscious at the same time of a series of events lasting for more than two seconds. A long life consists of about a thousand million specious presents or ‘nows.’ Of course they overlap, but it is convenient to take them as units. My Consciousness at the present moment is in a special relationship to that at other moments in my past. It remembers a few of them, and is influenced by many of them. It has not got this relation to events in my future, or in your past or future. The fact that relations of this type exist determines my personal identity and also my knowledge of time. The perception of change, e.g. motion, within a specious present might still exist with a different type of relation between specious presents. There is nothing inconceivable in my looking out of the railway window in 1924 at objects which I am passing, being conscious of the motion, and remembering performing the same journey in 1923 and 1925. In this present world unless gifted with second sight I can only remember the former. If therefore we can imagine a different type of relation between ‘nows,’ there is no need to postulate a very different content of each from the normal in order to find ourselves in a different world.
‘Here,’ we say, ‘is a microscope which makes this fly look a thousand times its real size. Hence, corresponding to this other oblong image which I see, there must be a small and intangible object of one-thousandth its size. I will call it a bacillus.’ We do not dream of questioning the reality of such invisible and intangible objects, and down to the size of bacteria our assumptions work very well. But we cannot magnify objects much smaller than a wave-length of light; and yet we go on supposing that space has still just the same properties as the space in which we find that the evidences of our vision and touch agree with one another. It is not until we get down to the dimensions of an atom that space and time cease to have the properties familiar to us.
Man is after all only a little freer than a barnacle. Our bodily and mental activities are fairly rigidly confined to those which have had survival value to our ancestors during the last few million generations. Our own appraisal of these activities is dictated to some extent by other considerations than their survival value, but their nature is limited by our past. We have learned to think on two different lines—one which enables us to deal with situations in which we find ourselves in relation to our fellow-men, another for corresponding situations with regard to inanimate objects. We are pretty nearly incapable of any other types of thought. And so we regard an electron as a thing, and God as a person,[9] and are surprised to find ourselves entangled in quantum mechanics and the Athanasian Creed.
How a Physicist explains Reality
If reality is only 1% of the stuff of the universe, why do we think it is so important? Matter is only about 1% of the universe, according to the best estimates of scientists1. The rest is composed of dark matter and dark energy, which are mysterious and invisible forms of matter and energy that we do not fully understand yet.
We think matter is important because it is what we are made of, and what everything we see and touch is made of. Matter is also what allows us to interact with the universe through forces such as gravity and electromagnetism. Matter is the source of light, heat, sound, and other forms of radiation that we can perceive with our senses or measure with our instruments.
Matter is also important because it has a rich and complex structure that gives rise to a variety of phenomena and behaviors. Matter can exist in different states, such as solid, liquid, gas, and plasma, depending on the temperature and pressure2. Matter can also form different types of bonds, such as metallic, ionic, covalent, or molecular, depending on the arrangement and interaction of atoms2. Matter can also undergo chemical reactions, nuclear reactions, and phase transitions that change its composition and properties.
Matter is also important because it is the basis of life. Life is a form of matter that has the ability to grow, reproduce, adapt, and evolve. Life is also a form of matter that has the ability to sense, think, feel, and communicate. Life is also a form of matter that has the ability to create, discover, invent, and explore. Life is a rare and precious phenomenon in the universe that we should cherish and protect.[2]
Therefore, even though matter is only a small fraction of the universe, it is very important for us and for our understanding of the universe. Matter is not only what we are, but also what we do.[3]
References
- ↑ JBS Haldane, Possible Worlds (1927) https://jbshaldane.org/books/1927-Possible-Worlds/haldane-1927-possible-worlds.html#Page_260
- ↑ Paul Sutter, What is the universe? https://www.livescience.com/what-is-the-universe
- ↑ Center for Astrophysics, What is the universe made of? https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/big-questions/what-universe-made
Other Material
- The wiki page on Quantum Reality asserts that it describes an oxymoron, only Classical Physical Descriptions are about reality.
- This is a Philosopher on Drugs In the end everything - even the meaning of "everything" - changed.
