Mark Meek's Ideas: November 2018

Saturday, November 24, 2018

The Universe With Us And Without Us*

This has been added to the compound posting on this blog, "The Theory Of Stationary Space".

It may seem that science should be a simple realm, meaning that a statement must be either true or false and two contradictory statements cannot both be true. This is the way mathematics is. If 5 + 4 = 9 is true then 5 + 4 = 7 must be false.

But science has shown itself to be a complex realm, where two apparently contradictory statements can both be true, at least under certain circumstances.

Consider that there is "classical physics", relativity and quantum physics. All three are well-established and have precepts that are provable by experimentation. But both relativity and quantum physics have things that are impossible to explain by "classical physics".

Many have tried, with little success, to unite relativity and quantum physics. The great dividing line between the two is the speed of light. in Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, everything revolves around the speed of light. Mass, time and length can all be variable, but the speed of light always remains constant and nothing can ever travel faster than the speed of light.

But in quantum physics, the speed of light is not even a factor at all. Information moves between two entangled photons instantaneously, no matter how far apart they are, with no speed of light limitation.

Furthermore, in quantum physics even the act of observing or measuring something affects it's outcome. In the famous double-slit experiment, if we do not observe light passing through two parallel slits we can see by the diffraction pattern that photons of light passed through both slits. But if we do observe it, the absence of a diffraction pattern shows that photons passed through only one of the two slits. This is completely alien to both classical physics and relativity.

But if the physical sciences are so closely associated with mathematics, then how can mathematics be such a simple realm, where contradictory statements cannot be true, while science is a complex realm where contradictory statements sometimes can be true?

My cosmological theory has a simple explanation. One of the most important points of the theory is that we see the universe as we do not only because of what it is but also because of what we are.

There are two possible universes that we might see:

A) The universe with us.

B) The universe without us.

We could also refer to it as the "Internal Universe", which includes our perspective and our nature, and the "External Universe".

When humans first looked around them, it seemed that the earth was flat and that the astronomical bodies revolved around the earth. Later, of course, we found that the earth is spherical, rather than flat, and that the earth revolves around the sun and not the other way around.

As science progressed still further, we ran up against the bizarre realms of relativity and quantum physics and the contradictions that they bring about. But let's see how these compare with the earlier contradictions between what we see and what we later find to be true.

We know that the earth is not flat and that the astronomical bodies do not revolve around the earth. But then why do we see it that way if we know otherwise?

The answer is that to see the earth as spherical and revolving around the sun, we have to get ourselves out of the picture. If we see with our own eyes, with ourselves in the picture, we will see the earth as flat with the astronomical bodies revolving around it.

The flat earth with all of the astronomical bodies revolving around it is the universe with us.

The spherical earth revolving around the sun is the universe without us.

The difference is in whether we collect and analyze data or whether we put our direct perspective into it. Neither is really correct or incorrect. If we look at architectural blueprints, the earth appears to be flat as there is no reason to involve it's curvature on a large scale. For the purpose of telling time, it is fine to refer to sunrise and sunset, as if the sun were going around the earth. It depends whether or not we are in the picture.

Now, let's move on to the development of relativity and quantum physics. The two are not compatible with classical physics, or with each other. But considering the above example of the apparent flat earth and earth-centered universe, wouldn't it be logical that this is another case of "The universe with us" against "The universe without us"?

We know that the classical physics of the spherical earth revolving around the sun, and not vice-versa, represents "The universe without us" that displaced the flat earth with everything apparently revolving around us of "The universe with us". Given that, wouldn't it seem that the first place to look at why relativity and quantum physics have such a contradiction with classical physics is that maybe those two represent "The universe with us"?

For another thing, none of these three branches is able to explain that time actually is. Relativity explains how time is affected as an object moves at speeds approaching the speed of light, but still doesn't tell us exactly what time is. Classical physics and quantum physics don't have much at all to say about what time is.

What about my cosmology theory? Have you ever thought that maybe what we perceive as particles of matter, such as electrons, are really strings in four-dimensional space and our consciousnesses are moving along the bundles of strings comprising our bodies and brains at what we perceive as the speed of light? That is why the speed of light is so absolutely constant and everything seems to revolve around it and no one can explain what time is in terms of physics.

Relativity is "The universe with us", which is why it cannot be explained by the classical physics of "The universe without us". Time is something that is within us, which is why it has never been explained by classical physics. That is why I named my cosmology theory "The Theory Of Stationary Space", because everything is really still and it is only our movements and the movement of our consciousness that is the only "new" motion in the universe.

Electrons are one-dimensional strings in space. Light is two-dimensional waves in the background matrix of alternating negative and positive electric charges that comprise empty space. The only way that we can see, or measure of receive light in any way, is to have it interact with matter. When light interacts with matter it must absorb some of the energy in the light. Electrons are in orbitals around atoms so light interacting with matter usually means with an electron. But since light is a two-dimensional wave while electrons are only one-dimensional strings, that means that matter can absorb only one of light's two-dimensions.

Quantum physicists describe light as having both a wave and a particle nature, which seems contradictory and alien to classical physics. But since matter interaction, including seeing, involves contact with one-dimensional electrons, that means that one dimension of the light must be left over. Since my cosmology theory has what we see as particles as really one-dimensional strings, that explains the particle nature of light and the particles that we see as photons.

A photon is light where one of the two dimensions has been absorbed by interaction with matter. That explains the mysterious double-slit experiment. The only way that we can observe or measure light is to have it interact with matter, and this means absorbing one of it's two dimensions.

The speed of light is not a factor in quantum physics because time is really within us, the movement of our consciousness along the bundles of strings comprising our bodies and brains, and while that is a factor when we are moving, it is not a factor when we are seeing. Quantum physics is also "The universe with us", which is why it can never be explained by the classical physics of "The universe without us".

Relativity and quantum physics both, unlike classical physics, involve our perspective.

Special relativity is the effects that we observe revolving around the fact that our consciousness is moving along the bundles of strings that compose our bodies and brains at what we perceive as the speed of light. Matter is really strings in four-dimensional space but we perceive them as particles in three-dimensional space because we perceive the fourth dimension of space as time.

Quantum physics is the effects that we observe revolving around the fact that light, or any electromagnetic radiation, consists of two-dimensional waves, while the electrons in orbitals around the atoms in our eyes and measuring devices are one-dimensional strings. When light interacts with matter an electron absorbs energy from the light. But it can absorb only one of the two dimensions and this leaves the one-dimensional "particles" of light that we refer to and perceive as photons. This explains the wave-particle duality of light.

What we perceive as particles are really one-dimensional strings because we perceive one of the four dimensions of space as time. This is why information can move instantaneously between two entangled photons, without being bound at all by the speed of light.

I see my cosmology theory not as another branch, but as the way to link these three branches together.

This concept of two views of the universe, one with us and one without us, means that we have to be more careful about deciding that one scientific theory is correct, while another is incorrect. it might be that one is describing the universe with us while the other is the universe without us.

An ideal example is the nature of light. Prominent scientists like Rene Descartes, Robert Boyle and, Sir Isaac Newton developed a theory that light was composed of particles, which they named "corpuscles". But this could not explain the observed behaviors of light when it is passed through such optical devices as lenses, prisms and, diffraction gratings. Even though it was Sir Isaac Newton who first demonstrated that white light could be broken down into it's component colors through a prism.

The balance shifted toward the theory that light was composed of waves. This was put forth by the Dutch scientist Christaan Huygens and did explain all of the optical behaviors of light.

But then when quantum physics came along, it turned out that it's photons were just like the old "corpuscles", which were particles of light. Quantum physics described light as having both a wave and a particle nature. But what that meant is that both of the old theories could be correct. The "corpuscles" or photons represent "The universe with us" and the waves represent "The universe without us".

Saturday, November 17, 2018

The New Jersey Side of New York City

Saturday, November 10, 2018

The End Of The First World War

The centennial of the end of the First World War is November 11. The fact that the war ended on this day is why it is called Veterans' Day, in the U.S., and Remembrance Day, in Commonwealth countries. It is sometimes called Armistice Day. We saw the centennial of the beginning of the war in the posting on the world and economics blog, "Assassination In Sarajevo".

WHAT REALLY ENDED THE FIRST WORLD WAR?

But what it was exactly that ended the war is rather vaguely understood. It is a very interesting story that we should be aware of. It is actually the story of a military plan that worked too well.

The German High Command, at war on two fronts with Imperial Russia on one side and the Allies on the other, was well aware of the discontent brewing in Russia against the ruling Romanov Dynasty. They came up with a brilliant plan that would incapacitate the ability of Russia to continue the war.

In exile in Switzerland was a Russian Bolshevik agitator named Vladimir Lenin. The Romanov Tsar Nicholas II finally abdicated in February 1917, and a Provisional Government took power, which continued the war against Germany. A Swiss Communist arranged for the Germans to transport Lenin by train back to Russia. The German High Command hoped that he would incite a revolution which, whether successful or not, would make it impossible for Russia to continue it's war effort.

The plan worked absolutely brilliantly. Lenin arrived in Russia in April. Within a few months, the October Revolution would bring the Bolsheviks to power, lead Russia to discontinue the war as it was now wracked by a civil war between the victorious Reds and their opponents, the Whites.

The trouble was that it worked too well.

The German population, suffering many of the same hardships as the Russians, found the revolution appealing as well. The revolution that the German High Command had so successfully brought about, and that had made it impossible for Russia to continue it's war effort, spread to Germany and made it impossible for it to continue it's war effort.

That is what brought the First World War to an end. It could be that, during the Cold War, the west didn't want to give the Communists credit for anything, but that is what happened.

Germany, like Russia, was ruled by an emperor. In fact, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II were cousins. Before the war, they used to correspond as "Willy" and "Nicky". Everyone seemed to be inter-related. Tsar Nicholas II was a first cousin of Britain's King George V. Tsarina Alexandra of Russia was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria and Kaiser Wilhelm II was her oldest grandson.

It was not Germany and Russia that started the war. If it had only been the major countries like Germany, Russia, Britain, France and Italy, the war would likely never have happened. But there was the factor of the Balkans as well as a tangle of alliances between nations. the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which had an alliance with Germany, had taken control of Bosnia and it's heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, had been assassinated while visiting there.

The assassin had been a Serb. Serbia had an alliance with Russia. Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia, which was rejected. That is where the combat started, and the alliances pulled everyone else in. France was allied to Russia, and Britain was allied to France. Germany, not wanting a war on two fronts, decided not to wait for France to attack it's western border first.

And the rest is bloody and tragic history. It was a war like none that had ever been seen before.

According to some sources, Austria-Hungary purposely issued an ultimatum that is knew Serbia would reject because it wanted a reason to expand it's territory. Others say that the war was needless, Serbia itself hadn't been involved in the assassination and Franz Ferdinand had not been popular either at home or abroad. It was just that there had been decades of peace and people were getting bored with it. In many places, the onset of war was wildly cheered by the people. The war was essentially over nothing .

As for the revolution that forced Russia out of the war, the German High Command was thinking of that as the military objective. They likely were not thinking that there was the possibility of the revolution spreading to Germany, and also forcing it out of the war.

But Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were both Germans. We saw their meeting in England, where both were in exile, in our visit to "Manchester". There was a Communist organization, the Spartacus League, in Germany during the war.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartacus_League#/media/File:Red_flag.svg

In Russia, the October Revolution can be said to have begun when the crew of the Russian Navy cruiser Aurora mutinied and joined the revolutionaries. A shot from one of the ship's guns signaled the beginning of the revolution.

The following year, what is known as the German Revolution began in almost exactly the same way. Sailors at Kiel mutinied. Russia's "October Revolution" was so-named because it was using the Julian Calendar at the time. Going by the Gregorian Calendar, it was actually in November. The Germans also began their revolution in November, and it is called the November Revolution.

Soviet-style workers' councils formed across Germany. That is what a "soviet" actually is, and where the name comes from. It is actually a council of workers, what could be called a union.

It is mostly forgotten today but the Bavarian Monarchy, in southern Germany, was overthrown and replaced by the Bavarian Soviet Republic. You have never heard of this because this story was buried, first by the Nazis and then by the west during the Cold War, because neither wanted to give the Communists credit for anything.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavarian_Soviet_Republic#/media/File:Socialist_red_flag.svg

In northern Germany was the Bremen Soviet Republic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremen_Soviet_Republic#/media/File:Socialist_red_flag.svg

The revolution that the German High Command had induced into Russia, to incapacitate it's war effort, had spread to Germany and had exactly the same effect. Revolutions along the same lines also took place in Germany's allies, the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires. They were dismantled and replaced with the modern nations of Turkey, Austria and, Hungary.

One thing that I think has been mostly forgotten is the Lipetsk Air Base in Russia. As terms of the armistice that ended the war, Germany was not allowed to have an air force. But when the Second World War began, and before that the Spanish Civil War, Luftwaffe pilots were clearly experienced fliers.

What happened is that, although Russia and Germany had been enemies in the First World War and would be again in the Second, The Soviet Union allowed German fliers to secretly use and train at the Lipetsk Air Base. This shows again the connection between the Soviet Union and the Weimar Republic based on their shared revolutions.

But, unlike the Tsar of Russia, the Kaiser went alive into exile, in the Netherlands. The German Revolution was milder and the upper classes in Germany retained some power. The revolution in Germany led to the Weimar Republic. It was socialist but, unlike Russia, it had a parliament. That parliament was known as the Reichstag.

When someone wanted to bring the Weimar Republic to an end, it had enemies on both the left and right, one thing that they could strike at was it's parliament. In 1933, the Reichstag building was set afire. Multiple fires were started so that there was no doubt about it being deliberately set. A Dutch Communist sympathizer, who was living in Germany, was convicted and executed for setting the fire.

A new party, the Nazis, used the Reichstag fire as a reason to enact security measures with the result of their consolidating power. In fact, the Nazis gained so much from the fire that many have wondered if they were really behind it.

The German royal imperial family was never executed, like the Bourbons by guillotine or the Romanovs by firing squad. Kaiser Wilhelm II moved into a country estate in the Netherlands, where he was to live the rest of his life. He was still alive when the Nazis occupied the Netherlands in the Second World War.

Knowing that the Nazis blamed him for losing the First World War, Winston Churchill, who had once met the Kaiser, offered him exile in Britain, remember that he was the oldest grandson of Queen Victoria and was present at her death, but he declined. He sent a communication to Hitler, asking for a revival of the imperial dynasty, but Hitler showed no interest in communicating with him. The Nazis pretty much ignored him, and he died the following year.

The German Monarchy didn't last long enough, 1871-1918, to become really popular. The place most associated with it today is Huis Doorn, the Dutch estate where Kaiser Wilhelm II lived in exile after the end of the monarchy.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

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THE ZEPPELIN ERA

It is mostly forgotten today but there were air raids on cities during the First World War. Germany built lighter-than-air airships that became known as Zeppelins after the main company that produced them. The Zeppelins were filled with hydrogen, which gave them their lift. America had helium but wouldn't sell it to Germany so the airships were filled with hydrogen. There is more lifting power in hydrogen because it is lighter than helium but it's disadvantage is that it explodes.

A Zeppelin on an air raid was very vulnerable to aircraft but it's advantage is that it could reach high altitudes that the aircraft had difficulty reaching because the air gets thinner with altitude and the plane's wings provide less lift. But bombing from high altitude makes accuracy in where the bombs are dropped impossible and the Zeppelins had great difficulty with the winds at high altitudes, so that the campaign was abandoned.

By the time the Nazis came along, in the 1930s, metal aircraft had been perfected. But the Nazis were greatly interested in the Zeppelin airships. It has mystified many why they would be so interested in this dangerous and now-unnecessary technology. When my mother was a girl, during the peace between the World Wars, she watched the ill-fated Hindenburg pass over southern England.

But remember, as we have seen, how the Nazis saw, and wanted Europeans to see them, as the fulfillment of the Holy Roman Empire. The reason for humans flying in the first place was the French launching of the Montgolfier Brothers' balloon as a new way to attack the British fortress at Gibraltar. Britain was not in the Holy Roman Empire.

Having this magnificent airship seen flying around Europe, as the descendant of the Montgolfier balloon would show the Nazis to be the fulfillment of the Holy Roman Empire. Europe would than join them in confronting the east, invading and conquering the Soviet Union, and Hitler would reign over all as the new Charlemagne.

During the Nineteenth Century, three ancient obelisks were taken from Egypt. The U.S., Britain and France each got one. The U.S. obelisk is in Central Park. The British one was mounted on the side of the Thames River. The French obelisk is the most visible of all, it is the one in Place Concorde.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250926.jpg

During the First World War, a bomb landed near London's obelisk. The bomb was actually dropped by a plane, not a Zeppelin, but the scars on the pedestal of the obelisk have been left un-repaired in memory of the First World War, when most of the air raids on cities were by Zeppelins, so that the obelisk is a memorial not only of ancient Egypt but also of the Zeppelin era.

The scars on the three-tiered pedestal of the obelisk are from the shrapnel of an aerial bomb dropped in the First World War. The scars have been left as a war memorial.

The amazing thing is that the obelisk represents a stage in the early development of civilization in exactly the same way that the Zeppelin represents a stage in the early development of aircraft.

The Zeppelin era may have been brief but it made enough of an impact that it's name lives on. Decades later, during the rock music era, a band would be formed. It would go on to become one of the greatest bands there ever was. It would have a song that was, at the time, the highest-selling single ever. As anyone who came of age in the 1970s knows, the band's name was Led Zeppelin.

Iran Hostage Crisis Anniversary

The new sanctions on Iran began on November 4, which was the 39th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy, and beginning of the Hostage Crisis, in 1979.

The former embassy is now a museum. The first of the following scenes show the "Glass Room" in the embassy where discussions could be held securely. The clear walls were so they could be sure they were not being bugged. The rest of the scenes are of the neighborhood in Tehran today. The red brick building with two columns in the doorway and bars on the windows are the front of the building. The Great Seal of the U.S. is still there.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

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At Desert One, the site of the April 1980 hostage rescue attempt, the Iranians have built a mosque and it is the site of religious pilgrimages. The green bus is the one that happened across the rescue attempt and the Iranian passengers were temporarily held.

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Does anyone remember when there were prayers across America? The Iran Hostage Crisis was not about military strength, it was a hostage situation. There were prayer meetings for them across America. After the rescue attempt failed the prayers continued, and all was not lost.

As it turned out, help would come from an unexpected direction. Neighboring Iraq, glad to be rid of the Shah of Iran, at first expressed support for the Iranian Revolution. But then Ayatollah Khomeini, the main opponent of the Shah who had spent years in exile in Iraq teaching Shiite students in Najaf, made it clear that he wanted new Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein overthrown by Iraq's majority Shiite population.

Border clashes took place between the two nations, with each side blaming the other. In September 1980, it turned into full-scale war. With Iran actually being invaded, the hostages were no longer needed as a rallying point for the revolution. Those who were guarding the hostages were needed at the battlefront, and the hostages were soon released.