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  Lunatic Writer

Science is not JUST a theory

5/18/2015

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Early in their book View from the Center of the Universe, authors Primack and Abrams debunk the post-modern idea that scientific theory is simply "an opinion about reality, even if it is an educated opinion." (24)

This idea is simply wrong, they argue. They point to the fact that there have been many scientific revolutions in physics since the time of Newton, yet none of them have proved Newton to be "wrong". Newton's ideas are not wrong so much as "limited". To the present day, it is still Newton's equations that successfully guide spacecraft to the planets.  What is true is that insights by Einstein and others have shown that Newton's equations are not sufficient to explain how the universe works in all circumstances e.g. for objects traveling near the speed of light. But Einstein's theories do not overthrow Newton's, they encompass them. "Science does not simply toss one theory out for another: it makes real progress toward even-larger truths." (26)



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The problem many modern people have in accepting that a true universal cosmology is possible may owes its origins to a very un-modern aesthetic that still lingers in people's minds.  John Keats summarizes this viewpoint nicely in his "Ode to a Grecian Urn" when he says, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty--that is all/ ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."



A lovely sentiment, but very unproductive when trying to understand the world of quantum physics. In fact, maybe Keats is blameless because he does states that truth and beauty are equivalent on earth.  If we restrict this sentiment to things experienced on earth, then we are safe enough.


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I am a writer. I frequently rely on intuition to give me insights about humankind and the world around me, always on the lookout for both truth and beauty. But intuition is a dangerous strategy to adopt when looking for scientific truth.

As Primack and Abrams point out. "The universe is under no obligation to be the way our aesthetic sensibilities might wish or expect."(29)

No less an intellectual giant than Albert Einstein fell prey to this faulty thinking when objecting to quantum theory because he couldn't believe God would play dice. Clearly the idea offended his sense of order and beauty.

Intuition and common sense are valuable assets in the human tool box, so long as we apply them to terrestrial experiences. But, warn Primack and Abrams, "When we extrapolate such feelings about how things work to the universe, what we are actually imagining is how the universe would work in miniature if it existed on the size scale of our experience. But miniatures never work like the real thing." (31) This is one of the great central ideas of the book. The size scale of things is fundamental in understanding how they work. You cannot, for example, increase an ant up to the size of an elephant and expect it to work, nor do the reverse
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Fundamental Questions (and Answers)

4/25/2015

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As a young boy I asked the following questions (and, as an amateur cosmologist, still do):

What is the universe made of?


How did it get this way?

How big is it?

Where did it come from, and where is it going?

Are we alone it?

At one time in our lives, most of us did ask such questions  But then we 'grew up', grew to realize that things like job creation, economics, financial investment, politics, gas mileage and the study of neolithic fertility rites--or whatever narrow field of study you chose to dedicate yourself to-- were much more relevant, and what life was really about.

In their book, View from the Center of the Universe, authors Primack and Abrams suggest that these fundamental questions are not childish, that they remain profound and to the list should be added one more: "What difference does this all make to me?" (10)


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We so easily dismiss these timeless questions.  As adults we can see no practical way in which they can benefit us. Our powerlessness in addressing them can only frustrate and disappoint. As Primack and Abrams say, modern people "no longer think such knowledge is possible." (19)  The pursuit of a new, unifying, and true cosmology can only be a fruitless endeavour. And, after all, isn't all 'truth' just relative?

Such a conclusion is wrong. Today we do have answers to all these questions which is an amazing thing.  It is a gift from the universe, and a triumph of scientific endeavour. The results of this work are not widely known. And knowing the answers to these questions does in fact make a profound difference to our understanding of our place in the universe and our ability to solve the 'practical' problems of everyday human existence.

More to follow...


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BOOK REVIEW: The View from the Center of the Universe

4/11/2015

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This book by Joel Primack, physics professor, and his wife Nancy Abrams, is the most important book I have read in the last decade, maybe the last several decades.  Last month I finished reading it for the fourth time, this time liberally marking up the text with yellow highlighter.

In this work, Primack and Abrams attempt a remarkable thing: to synthesize all our current understanding of cosmology into a new world culture myth about the universe and humankind's place in it.

The authors do not use the word 'myth' in the sense of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny or something that is patently juvenile and untrue.  Myth is at the heart of human spirituality. Myth is the story we make for ourselves that explains our relationship to the universe.

All the world's great civilizations have had great myths whose principle purpose was to explain existence and give purpose to each person's life.  Our modern age is without such a myth--we are perhaps suspicious of myths and think ourselves too sophisticated to need them.  But the lack of such a unifying (and yes 'reassuring') myth goes a large way in explaining our modern angst.  



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the largest unit in the universe: a galaxy cluster.

Most of us, in some cases on an unconscious level, think of the universe as vast, empty, expanse, and regard our own personal existence to be without meaning or significance.

The View from the Center of the Universe argues that this lonely, existential view is based on an outdated cosmology, that it is does not at all reflect a vision of the universe as it 'actually is'.

The universe as it 'actually' is, filled with virtual particles popping in and out of existence, filled with dark matter that we can't even see, and with the very fabric of space expanding exponentially, is a strange and wondrous place.

What is even more strange and wondrous is that mankind seems to have a central and pivotal place in all this. What an exciting idea! And how brilliantly the authors expound it.


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Stay tuned for future excerpts from this remarkable work.
In the meantime, you way wish to check the authors' website: viewfromthecenter.com


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    ​Author

    Brian d'Eon, fiction writer: whose work modulates between speculative, historical and magical realism.

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