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NEW BOOK!
Epistemology
THE  INFINITE PATTERN
Explaining Nature
by Chongo in collaboration with José



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IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW
ABOUT THE FOUNDATIONS OF SCIENCE


© 2014 Chongo (C. Tucker), All rights reserved.
This book is designed to educate. That is, to educate anyone in the foundations of what is commonly perceived as an extremely difficult subject, namely, theoretical physics. This is done by excluding all math. Picture illustrations and words are used instead. Pictures and words are all that are needed for explaining the concepts of theoretical physics, like quantum theory, for example.

Contrary to popular belief, the foundations of theoretical physics are not complex but simple, which is why everyone who can should learn them. At its heart, theoretical physics is easy to understand and can be grasped within a few months, leaving the individual who chooses to learn it intellectually far, far stronger than they would have been without it. Surely it is mistakenly perceived otherwise because such understanding has not yet become commonly widespread. Once, neither was reading skill; the world was mostly illiterate, and ignorance ruled. Today, nearly everyone reads, and a far better world than one without widespread literacy is the result. Now, just as life is enriched by so many being literate, so can it be even more by everyone understanding accurately how nature really works, starting with the foundations that describe it best, starting with energy’s most fundamental, namely, the Theory of Mechanics, the most accurate description of nature’s energy ever conceived.

An accurate understanding of nature changes forever one’s view of the world, and provides hope for its future. For most, life itself is now better than it has ever been in human history, thanks in enormous part to science, genuine science, providing the marvels that so enrich our lives, like long life spans, travel, communication, and health, just to mention a few. Life would be much, much less, in the absence of modern scientific understanding, no less than it would, again, most certainly be, in the absence of simple literacy being commonplace. On the whole, people benefit from our more modern world filled with more and greater opportunities for humankind than a less modern world, one lacking genuine scientific understanding (one lacking its foundations, one lacking quantum theory) could ever offer instead. The more, overall who learn science, the richer the world becomes.

You can help yourself individually and help everyone else collectively in the process, by learning about the simple idea that the Theory of Quantum Mechanics is. Learning is far, far easier than one might have ever imagined. And, because quantum theory is easily grasped, once learned, this understanding lasts for the duration of one’s entire lifetime, again, very, very easily. It is our nature, as thinking beings.
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Fifteen years in the making! Real science for those interested in what is genuinely true about the founding principles underlying everything in nature. Includes descriptions of the most elusive topics in quantum physics, explained in tangible, concrete terms, and in a manner that requires no prerequisite formal education whatsoever.

Although the text is challenging, it is interesting and engaging as well. So, if you can read, and you are willing to grasp two very simple “old” ideas (those of perpendicular and infinity) and imagine them in what may be an altogether “new” way, then you have all the conceptual foundation necessary for building an accurate understanding of nature’s “universal” ways. It remains only to learn, albeit conceptually, the best description of these ways ever imagined, namely, theoretical physics, or put more simply, the theoretical model of reality.

Theoretical physics is the “truest” description of nature ever conceived; "truest," by virtue of describing reality more accurately than any other way that has ever existed. It is the explanation that has never failed once, far surpassing any and all others proposed, before and since.

Empower your intellect and enrich your life as you never have before, by learning about this amazing account of all natural phenomenon, because anyone who can read can come to understand physical theory. Theoretical physics reveals the most fundamental of truths in nature, as you can come to discover for yourself, through what is among the best descriptions of fundamental truth ever written and the only description that does so exclusive of any mathematical notation whatsoever.

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EXCERPT  (This paragraph, the one that initiates the actual description of quantum theory in Chapter Four, followed by the ending paragraph for that chapter. and thereby perhaps best embodies the substance of the content.)

"To discover what is true about physical reality, we observe it. So, to discover more, we observe more. But, how, exactly, do we observe ‘more’? One way is to adjust the scope of our perception, and thereby observe more precisely. By looking through a telescope, and thus more finely focusing the scope of our perception, we discover what is true about the motions in the sky. To discover what is true about the motions that are too small to see (unaided), we likewise focus the scope of our perception more precisely, looking at smaller and smaller things. To observe more precisely how the very smallest things move, we peer more and more deeply into matter itself, no differently than we do when we look out into space, through our telescopes. By peering more deeply into matter, near and far, science has discovered that at the most fundamental levels and, in particular, at the very, very smallest scales of size, things move in a completely different way altogether from how we EVER see any solid bodies around us move. Yet, anything that moves, which is everything there is (that is energy), ultimately moves, according to this 'other' way of moving*, a way which is described ‘most’ accurately – in fact, more accurately than any other way – by the Theory of Quantum Mechanics. And what this remarkable theory reveals about the nature of motion (all of it) in our universe is no less amazing than what the Theory of Relativity reveals about the nature of space and time’s geometry, within which this motion, according to what the Theory of Quantum Mechanics implies, becomes a very, very, very meaningful and incredibly rich reality.

"The Theory of Quantum Mechanics accurately describes and predicts physical phenomena to great accuracy. Furthermore, it is the physical theory underlying classical Newtonian mechanics. (Quantum mechanics yields Newtonian mechanics as its outcome, when large aggregations are considered.) In other words, the Theory of Quantum Mechanics is the most fundamental working theory for describing the world, or for describing anything in it (except, as yet, gravity). And, it has been confirmed repeatedly, by observation. Thus, ANY model of reality positively must include quantum mechanics either as a part or, at very least, as a limiting case, to be true. The Theory of Quantum Mechanics is as significant to the understanding and history of physics as relativity is. Like relativity, it is a foundation upon which physical principles can be and are in fact built (e.g. lasers, microwave ovens, computers). Like relativity, quantum mechanics is true (it always works). But, unlike relativity, which is invariant (in the common definition of the term, not the scientific: invariant with respect to a reference frame) with respect to the presence or absence of an observer; the Theory of Quantum Mechanics wholly requires one. That is correct, according to the most successful model of nature ever conceived, a universe requires something alive, somehow observing its events, in some way, or it is never actually “real.” Amazingly, experiments in quantum mechanics demonstrate that the laws of nature themselves vary with respect to the presence or absence of an observer, observing. The universe, it seems, operates two completely different ways, according (exclusively) to whether it is being observed or not being observed. (Appreciating this is absolutely crucial to understanding. Overlooking it or reducing its importance will serve only to mislead.) Quantum mechanics reconciles these two different ways that the universe works, by precisely specifying how much we cannot ever know, just as precisely as it specifies how much we can (ever know).

"To understand how quantum mechanics reconciles how much we can know and how much we can never know, it is first necessary to understand relativity in, minimally, conceptual terms (like those used in the preceding chapter). Second, though it is necessary to understand relativity’s classical rules to understand quantum rules, we must also understand that our universe does not operate exactly according to relativity’s rules, though we can consider gravity effectively doing so even though it ultimately may opeerate quantum mechanically too. Energy, however, without any legitimate doubt at all, follows quantum rules, which, it seems, are, to the extent of current understanding, the 'truest' rules that there are for describing nature’s energy. The Theory of Quantum Mechanics specifies these rules better than ANY other description of physical reality there is. Recognizing that physical reality, or at least that part of it which is energy, works according to quantum rules of nature means that it, reality, does not operate precisely according to any classical rules, as relativity describes (again, ignoring gravity). The Theory of Relativity is just the ‘next-best’ thing to the Theory of Quantum Mechanics for describing energy. Indeed, as we shall see in this very chapter, and in those that follow, the rules that relativity describes are indispensable for understanding and specifying the even deeper truths that the quantum model includes."
...

"So, because the two-slot experiment is so significant an experiment to understanding nature, a complete chapter (the next) has been dedicated, entirely, to its explanation. Ultimately, this single experiment alone, irrefutably demonstrates the incredibly rich character of quantum reality, which is our reality, and the infinite and correspondingly enormous variety of possibilities that such a reality holds; and this is regardless of how diminished that rich character, in the local vicinity where we find ourselves observing might happen to be, because that rich character can dwell in our imagination and can be observed there too! In the meantime, it waits, always patiently and indifferently, for us to discover it by our simply learning quantum theory, albeit conceptually, and in this way behold the stunning beauty that understanding what is nature’s most accurate description of itself (its energy) can reveal to all who are willing to invest the time and thought needed to learn science’s high standard for truth that allows beholding that stunning magnificence. Because there is science, this description exists, for anyone willing enough to see it."


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"The real voyage of discovery is not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes."
–Marcel Proust
FOREWORD
by Victor Pareyra, Professor of Mathematics, Stanford University

In the few years that began the twentieth century, Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity revolutionized the world of physics by showing that Newton's account of natural laws did not model nature's motions accurately. At about this same time, a new model, named the Theory of Quantum Mechanics, expressed the individual wave character of all energy. Like no others before, these two descriptions of the world changed our understanding of the smallest to the largest, and everything in between, forever, enduring now over a century of repeated testing, with exquisite and unparalleled accuracy and precision, having never failed even once. Together, these two descriptions of the world encompass everything existent in nature, including our very awareness of life. No other body of ideas ever imagined even comes close in performance and revelation.

The consequences of these two giant leaps in science have had immense repercussions in everyday life. From atomic bombs to nuclear energy, from computers to cell phones, lasers and microwave ovens, the Theory of Relativity and the Theory of Quantum Mechanics have changed the world in which we live, in every way. Now, after more than a century of unprecedented success, common and widespread understanding of these brilliant intellectual tools is still limited to the very few, even though the fundamentals can be understood by anyone capable of reading and of grasping the most simple of abstract ideas.

This work attempts to expose people to the simple ideas underlying these two magnificent accomplishments, and in so doing, advance overall human understanding of nature, by explaining these ideas in great conceptual depth, but without resorting to any mathematics whatsoever. Nature's founding principles are explained, using only words, a few illustrations, and a simplification of our own reality, by means of an imaginary world inhabited by much less complex, two-dimensional versions of us. Though far simpler than ourselves, just like us, these two-dimensional creatures discover the relativity of space and time measures with respect to the motion and gravity characterizing their much simpler world.

Next, these creatures discover their own version of the Theory of Quantum Mechanics, identical to ours. In doing so, their story shows us how we, much more complex three-dimensional creatures, in our much more complex three-dimensional world, can do the very same. And, we can do so far more easily, given our additional dimension of depth and its matching insight, by following their rich story of scientific discovery, which parallels our own even richer story. Together, the Theory of Relativity and the Theory of Quantum Mechanics comprise the most fundamental and accurate working description of space, time, and everything in them that has ever been conceived. They ultimately even lead to explaining life itself, and moreover, can flatly demonstrate life's distinction in actual physical experiments.

The foggy veil of mystery that seems to surround physics is a mere illusion. It exists only in a lack of a comprehensible exposure to the subject matter. This veil serves, no less than it has throughout human history, only as barrier to beholding what can be the richest, most interesting, and most lasting aspects of nature. Seeing through the illusion that that mystery is reveals a stunning beauty that lies hidden beneath this veil.

No mysteries need stand between us, and our understanding anything. If we simply choose to learn for ourselves the truths that science has worked so tenaciously, often at the price of enormous living sacrifice, to identify, we will discover that anyone can comprehend anything they wish to comprehend about natural phenomena, utilizing the sound conclusions of science as a foundation. No formal education is needed for this text. Simply choosing to learn is the only real step that one must take. All subsequent steps are far, far easier.

Understanding science begins with understanding its most fundamental description of the world, the Theory of Relativity and the Theory of Quantum Mechanics, which are, unquestionably, among the most outstanding of all human achievements, short of humankind's refinement of courage, insight, compassion, and liberty. Science gives these refinements, and many others like them that are their outcome, wings, so that humanity can soar, by each individual one of us being able to do so, if no where else, then in our minds.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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See Foreword
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

Prologue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii

I. Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

II. The Inseparability of Space and Time Means the Relativity of Space and Time Measures . . . 7

III. The Simple Complexity of Classical Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

IV. Real Reality and the Rhythm of Quantum Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

V. A Hidden Universe Beneath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

VI. Touch of the Observer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

VII. Decisions of Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

VIII. The Infinite Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Appendix A: Riding a Beam of Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Appendix B: The Universe is Round . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136


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"The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible."
–Albert Einstein

PREFACE

We live in a quantum universe, and there is a reason why we do: we must. Were our universe any other kind of universe besides a quantum one, then ‘we’ would not exist in it, nor would anything. Fortunately for us, our universe is a quantum universe, and because it is, ‘something’, each one of us, is here in it, very alive, along with everything else required that allows us to be. This book is a description of the principles upon which our quantum universe operates and an explanation of why these principles are what they are. Perhaps most of all, it is an exploration into the reasons why these principles must be what they are, and why they can be no others, in this universe.

In understanding this description, we can uncover the stunning beauty that lies beneath everything we observe, removing the myths and misunderstandings that have, now even up into these modern times, always stood between us and what is really true about anything. Understanding the principles upon which a quantum reality is based can introduce anyone who simply wishes to know what is truest in nature, to a completely new way to see the universe, and possibly even a new way to consider physical existence.

Understanding the founding principles upon which our world is based can reveal why the smallest and most fundamental particles of nature (which includes every last bigger thing that is made of these particles) are actually finite partial ‘representations’ (projections) of something that is not finite at all, but infinite. In this way, we can see that a particle and a wave are two aspects of the very same thing, and thereby discover why physical existence is simply a shape and how all motion is just the shape of the universe changing, as we and everything living roll down a one-way road called time, observing the contours of this shape with each moment of our journey, in a connected series of moments that we call being alive.

By describing physical existence in this new way, we can ultimately discover the very nature of our awareness, and thus discover the true nature of all awareness anywhere; as well as its enormous significance in very real, very physical, and indeed very tangible and understandable terms. Using the conclusions made by physical science, namely, the Theory of Relativity and then the Theory of Quantum Mechanics, the book you are holding in your hand will explain exactly 'what' life is, precisely 'why' life is, and most importantly, why life absolutely must be, for there to be anything existent or purposeful at all!

This is the story of the Theory of Quantum Mechanics, described in a very simple manner, without any mathematical notation. Quantum theory can lead us to see why the universe is the way it is, by the necessity which is ‘implied’ by the other working physical theory, the Theory of Relativity, but which is absolutely REQUIRED by quantum theory. That necessity is the necessity for an observer in a universe, an observer who is ‘alive’ and who is ‘aware’ of something, anything. The presence of an observer and the fact that no observer is preferred (by the laws of nature) over any other lead not only to the inevitability of relativity for describing space and time, but to the inevitability of quantum mechanics too, for describing those things which lie within relativity’s space and time.

Quantum mechanics is an outcome of a universe characterized by constant and ongoing observation. The chapters that follow will explain how observation and the life that observation implies are a most natural and inescapable consequence of any physically ‘real’ universe. Most amazingly, living observers emerge because they absolutely must emerge, for the sake of a very naturally occurring and absolutely unavoidable 'inevitability', the all-encompassing one that we call “existence.” This, in a nutshell, is the substance of this book’s content and what it attempts to explain.


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"The first step toward imagining something new is often to cease the imagining of something old
– thus making room for the new."

PROLOGUE
(Condensed)

By addressing the subject of theoretical physics, one is compelled to ask, how in the world can an understanding of nature's deepest truths enrich one's life experience? What exactly are the benefits that a conceptual grasp of quantum theory, based upon first understanding relativity, yields, that can be applied in everyday practice? How can the contemplation of the motion of subatomic particles, particles that are far too small to ever be seen and whose existence can only be inferred, improve our participation in the big motions occurring around us and in us always? Why learn such a seemingly abstract subject?

First, to explain why, it is appropriate to state that, from the point of view of those individuals who have acquired such an understanding (not the least of which are the collaborator and the author), gaining it is as worthwhile an endeavor as one could ever pursue. According to this view, achieving an understanding of the founding principles, upon which nature – indeed, upon which existence – is based, matches the thrill of living the most exciting adventure, the satisfaction that comes from solving the most elusive puzzle, or the fulfillment of gratifying the deepest passion (all of which the collaborator and author have both genuinely known first hand). Indeed, such an understanding of the physical world can be bliss itself. Nonetheless, the realization of these esoteric rewards is always subject to the preferences of the individual, not to mention the faith that an individual might have in realizing them. So, one need not, necessarily, seek only these apparently intangible benefits, anticipating no others; there are others also.

The most practical and tangible reward that an accurate conceptual understanding of theoretical physics renders is that it makes understanding everything that 'is' reality much easier too, than does a lack of such an understanding. Having it, we can consider nature's phenomena using altogether new ways of thinking and using ideas that we probably (unless we already possess them) never imagined before. Remarkably, by having this new understanding, we can even shape our very wants, by understanding 'why' we even 'want' at all. That is to say, an understanding of quantum mechanics provides genuinely new ways of dealing with the world, ways that can provide the mind with completely new concepts and wholly new insights upon which to base its (i.e. our) decisions, concepts and insights that would simply never exist in our old ways of thinking (unless these old ways incorporated a valid theoretical model). In understanding genuine science as the pursuit of natural truth, we gain intellectual tools that we may have imagined only others ever being capable of possessing, not us. But 'we', meaning anyone, can possess them too!

Armed with these tools, we (anyone) can begin to see nature's founding design. Nature's ways need not be mysteries if we choose that they not be. Beyond mystery's illusion lies an elegant, abstract beauty that nature's apparent design encompasses. In recognizing the depth and extent of this beauty, one cannot help but come to appreciate the rigors utilized, that provided the means for arriving at these new ways of thinking, rigors that we (again, anyone) can apply in understanding anything. Science demonstrates that nature does not use mysterious powers for performing its apparent 'miracles'. It does not 'use' such things because it flatly never needs to do so.

Most wonderfully, and perhaps more so than all the other benefits, an understanding of physical theory (but in particular, an understanding, be it only in the most simplified, general, and conceptual terms only, of quantum theory) can identify those conventional notions that fail in the face of accurate understanding, exposing them for what they really are (and always were anyway): simply untrue. This, in turn, provides the opportunity for embracing those notions that demonstrate themselves to be consistent with nature and hence to be true in it, which are the very notions revealed by the theoretical model. Ignoring false notions and replacing them with true ones reveals the elusive yet magnificent beauty that quietly hides in Nature's seeming mysteries, introduces reason as an alternative to reaction. This hidden beauty waits, patiently indifferent, to be revealed by our understanding of it; starting with the simple idea of natural truth. Real science is the pursuit of natural truth, objective truth, truth that may be much, much different from what one might imagine truth being according to 'conventional', nonscientific views. Ideally, truth is not subjective for science.
...

The science of physics, like any discipline, can be a time-consuming labor to learn and understand. This is due to the simple reality, as the chapters will serially explain, that thinking, and therefore learning and understanding, are motion, no different from the motion of our overt actions, like when we walk or talk (or read). And, just as it is required for ALL overt motion, such as walking or talking (or reading), the motion of our thoughts requires time too. Time is required to think, and, unless our understanding is innate, time is required to understand, anything, meaning that time must be spent to learn and understand relativity and quantum mechanics. But, given enough time invested, which is not that much (a few months or so), and given a meaningful description of these theories and the conclusions that they yield (this book), ANYONE (like the reader) CAN eventually learn and understand, if only in purely conceptual terms alone (and, in the case of the condensed explanation of relativity, only in the most brief, general, and summary terms) these proven theories that model and describe physical reality so impeccably well – to reiterate, ANYONE.

That is the intention of this book (among many), to educate anyone in the principles of modern theoretical physics. In particular, the text was designed for those individuals with least access to the means, material, and resources necessary for gaining such an understanding (e.g. the poor). Anyone, even the most uninformed or least formally educated, if they read the text enough times (provided that they read the whole book FIRST [this, reading the entire text first, is critically important] then rereading it [easier the second time]: rereading the long paragraphs if necessary, repeatedly, and, of course, reading the footnotes – they are important), should ultimately grasp the ideas and concepts underlying the two physical theories (relativity and quantum mechanics), upon which all theoretical physics is built. To put it bluntly, anyone can, at least in summary fashion, learn and understand just what this book is trying to teach – again, ANYONE. And 'anyone', includes the reader. Should modern culture ever recover from its arrogance and its achievements survive, then someday school children will begin their studies of geometry using relativity (by simply understanding how light's speed never changing explains gravity), and initiate their explorations of science with at least a conceptual introduction to the ideas that underlie quantum theory (like nature's necessity for life to observe it and why, as well as the alternative).

In short, if you can read, you can understand the content. Convinced that it is really possible to gain an actual understanding of theoretical physics, it only remains to be adequately motivated to make the appropriate effort by investing the time it takes to learn. Doing so one begins to understand why these theories are, indeed, why they must be, true. In other words, if the reader does indeed accept, and in so doing, 'believes' in their heart that it is truly possible to really understand the two theories (faith in one's own capacity for understanding is an absolute must), accepting what they reveal about the nature of reality, then the reader need only 'want' badly enough, to spend the time necessary (which may vary from individual to individual) reading, slowly and carefully, and, most importantly, taking the time necessary to think, contemplating thoroughly the concepts that the words reveal (haste fails). By taking the time required, and by understanding that it is indeed possible for anyone who can read to do so, one can begin to understand the very foundations upon which all real science is ultimately based, and thus realize that any science that is not consistent with physical theory either someday will be, or instead, be recognized as having never been a 'real' science (as truth's pursuit), in the first place.

In ignoring ALL the other intuitive notions that we might have, we can start with this single notion of perpendicular, and build upon it. By understanding this simple, commonplace concept, one has the necessary foundation to imagine geometry (as an organized labeling system for a set of distances and directions). And, utilizing, by imagining, geometry alone, one can understand in general though nonetheless unambiguous and most importantly accurate terms, just how these theories (relativity and quantum mechanics) work, and precisely what they say about the character of nature and those things constituting its phenomena.

Now, in ignoring every last notion we might have about physical reality -- except, of course, the single notion of perpendicular -- we must replace such notions with altogether 'new' ones. This, however, is not as simple as it might, at first, seem to be. For, upon incorporating new notions into our thinking, we must start thinking in what may be wholly unfamiliar ways. Unavoidably, this is what we must do (that is, think in what may be wholly unfamiliar ways), in order to think in the altogether new ways that we must in order to begin building a 'true' understanding of nature, because that is exactly what learning theoretical physics is.

Thinking, in completely new ways altogether (ways which may flatly contradict 'old' and very fundamental ways) is the price that we pay for understanding. We MUST be willing to pay this price, or we will understand little at all; our intuitive notions, just like our preferences for how the world 'should' or 'must' work, will stand between us, and what is genuinely true about nature, no less than they did throughout the history of our physics -- until about a century ago, with the discovery of two very, very important sets of ideas: the Theory of Relativity, and the Theory of Quantum Mechanics, both of which are the subject of this book.


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"We are complexity, trying to see deeply into this elusive thing called simplicity, which is the root of all complexity."
Chapter One
FOUNDATIONS
(Condensed)

"How do we explain physical reality? Where do we start, and with what do we begin, in order to take even the first step toward an explanation? Given the amazing marvels of the modern world and the unparalleled advancements in so many different sciences, it would seem that much of how the world operates and even its origins, are now explained. What is the core that explanation? Does it explain why anything even exists in the first place? Can why even be answered? What does such a question mean, anyway? Could a fitting answer to it, a true one, exist?"

"In explaining physical reality, do we really have anything else, except it, with which to initiate that explanation? Is there ever anything else, except physical reality? We might think that there is more, perhaps by believing that our thoughts, memories, feelings, or dreams exist, somehow independently from physical reality. In so believing, we ignore that we cannot even ‘imagine’ anything independent of physical reality (though we might, quite mistakenly, believe otherwise), any more than we can think, feel, or dream independently of it, because physical reality includes even the motions of our very thoughts, memories, feelings, and dreams, themselves, which, to be clear, are ALL also, just as physical – every bit as much – as anything in the universe. To even consider, legitimately, that our thoughts, memories, feelings, or dreams are somehow nonphysical, one must first identify precisely what it means for them, or for anything, to be so, and how, being nonphysical in character, they nonetheless express themselves in the most overtly physical ways – like in our speaking of them, for example, that, so clearly being physical motion, makes all of our thoughts, memories, feelings, and dreams no less physical than any overt human action is; no less than ANY other kind of physical motion whatsoever in the universe is. Stating matters as unambiguously as they can be stated, anything at all that we might ever imagine being nonphysical affecting reality simply does not exist, physically – nor can it ever – (if, for no other reason, simply by virtue of definition alone). (Note that nonphysical is considered being synonymous with the term, metaphysical, also, as there exists no physical distinction expressed between the meanings of the two; that is, to state matters clearly, what apples to one, applies to the other; hence the same lack of physical meaning corresponds identically to each term.)

So, because physical reality is all that we really have (since, as stated, anything else cannot ever be expressed, described, or manifest in any other way except a physical one), we must choose physical reality’s observation as the first step toward its explanation. If we do not choose its observation as a first step, then we must choose either not to explain physical reality, or choose something 'else' by which to explain, though there seems to be nothing else that we can use that is not its observation, by which to do so. If our goal of explaining is sincere, then we will readily recognize that if we choose the latter, that is, choose something ‘else’ besides observation, for explaining, we choose something that cannot, of course, ever be observed at all, not even indirectly (although we are certainly free to ‘believe’ otherwise, that is, in a modern world where the restriction of inquiry is wisely restricted, for the sake of keeping it so). In choosing reality’s observation, we choose something that we cannot really even imagine outside of the physical terms of the observations (or any permutations thereof: like allegory, for example) that are an outcome of our life experience or rearrangements and distortions of such experiences (as innate interpretive responses to these observations, with ‘innate’ meaning as a consequence and outcome of our cognitive biology), which are still all physical observations, as explained above, but our only basis.

By choosing observation as the first step toward explaining physical reality, we implicitly assume that physical reality is 'made' minimally, of what we observe, even if what we observe consists (as stated) only of what we think, remember, feel emotionally, or dream. We further assume that physical reality, besides being made of all these things we observe ‘within’ ourselves, is made also of all those things that we observe outside of ourselves, through our sensory awareness (our physical senses). Thus we begin, by assuming that physical reality is made of all things observed, be they observed internally or externally, directly (like seeing the print on the page that you are now reading) or indirectly (like seeing the reflection of ourselves [or anything], looking into a mirror, or looking at a recorded image). In this way, we can use physical reality as a first step, so that it can explain itself, through our embracing its observation, in the most rigorous way that we can. We will use physical reality, along with that part of it that is our imagination, as precisely as our current understanding allows, for describing our very observations themselves and the relationships existing between these observations (in a predictable and reproducible manner), which is what any meaningful explanation of physical reality must do, for it to explain anything that is genuinely, meaningfully real (that is to say, physically existing outside of our imagination). In a word, that is our goal here, to explain (explain reality’s physical existence itself: nature; and to be very, very clear, ‘nature’, as it is being used here and will be used throughout the text, is a synonym for the word “everything.”)

Having chosen to explain physical reality and its existence (again, nature: everything) using our imagination and in terms of our observations, we must next choose a method, one that renders observations consistent with those that we imagine, through our explanation. The method we will use is 'logic'. Logic is the method that science uses. It is the method that we will use too, because we observe that logic yields the greatest consistency, between that which is imagined to be true, and that which is actually observed to be (again, existing outside of our imagination). Logic includes mathematics, but we will avoid altogether using it (directly).

But, choosing logic as our tool is not enough. We must still assume more, since our previous assumption of observation’ (above and on preceding page) fails to provide any suitable basis for using logic. We MUST, therefore, assume that certain ‘other’ things are true, because logic has meaning only with respect to a (set of) minimum assumption(s) of truth. Independently of minimal assumption, logic yields no conclusions. This leads us to ask, what do we assume, minimally, about physical reality, upon which to base the logic that we can use to explain it?

Naturally, we must first consider the most readily observable, and hence, the most obvious of truths. We must assume two clear certainties. They are the certainty of our own existence, as our awareness of existence itself, and the certainty of the existence of the universe, as that of which we are aware. Clearly, we exist, and, just as clearly, the universe does too. However, stating these two truths simply states the obvious: we exist, and so does the universe; we seek to explain why. So how can we use these two blatantly obvious truths to further our understanding of either what we are, or what the universe is? How can they bring us any closer to specifying in real, physically meaningful terms, just what ‘reality’ (every last thing existent, including space and time) ‘is’?

In and of themselves, the assumption of our own existence and that of the universe’s existence make no inferences whatsoever about the relationships existing between any of our observations, which is, as was stated above (top), what a meaningful explanation of physical reality must do. It only implies that our own existence seems to be (according to what we are assuming) unambiguously differentiable, from the existence of the rest of the universe. Beyond the implied assertion that one is not the other, saying that our awareness of the universe is one thing, while the universe itself is another, says little else about the observations that we may make, nor does it infer any relationships existing among these observations, besides implying, through our use of the word ‘existence’, that we can expect to continue making observations into the future, just as experience has shown us we (as our imagination) remember making them in the past.

Because these two assumptions (those of the universe and our awareness of it existing, exists), in and of themselves, explain so little, we will have to assume more. To this end, we must seek assumptions elsewhere. We will seek them where our observations reveal that we are most likely to find true ones. We will seek them in the realm of ideas that is science, which tries to do that very thing, seek out true assumptions upon which to base its conclusions, thereby identifying those which are true from those which are not, by physically testing the validity of its assumptions in a predictable, reproducible, and precisely specified way. The strict, demanding rigors by which it tests itself makes science (real science) the very pursuit of truth, in its sincerest expression. Anything ‘else’, or anything contradicting (real) science, is the pursuit of something else altogether distinct, but certainly not truth.

In being the pursuit of truth, science seeks meaningful explanations for that which is real, meaning that science seeks to explain physical existence itself (just like we are trying to do in this book). In its pursuit, science has found two extremely meaningful explanations. In other words, these two explanations provide greater consistency, between that which is imagined, and that which is observed, than any other explanations ever known.

The first of these two explanations is the Theory of Relativity. The Theory of Relativity explains the geometry of time, space, and gravity in the universe, since, according to relativity, time is as much a part of the geometry of the universe as space is, with gravity as their outcome. Relativity is, unquestionably (of course, unless someone can prove otherwise), the most accurate description of gravity there is. The part of the Theory of Relativity that describes gravity is named ‘general relativity’. Given its impeccable performance whenever it is tested, we can, quite safely, assume that it is true (adequately, for our purposes [i.e. measuring space and time]). Note: It should be added here that, according to (general) relativity, time and space are purely structural qualities of that within them and therefore are absolutely never independently self-existent. What this means is that space and time indeed do not exist on their own and in this sense are “nothing”; but, to be clear, a nothing filled with quantum energy.

The second theory that explains physical reality is the Theory of Quantum Mechanics. The Theory of Quantum Mechanics describes everything lying ‘in’ the space, time, and gravity, which the Theory of General Relativity describes so well. The Theory of Quantum Mechanics describes anything and everything in the universe, except (as yet) gravity. The anything and everything in the universe that is not gravity is termed by science, ‘energy’. Quantum Mechanics describes energy, better than any other working (i.e. testable) model that has ever existed. These two theories alone embody all modern theoretical physics (all deeper theories derived from the two). Together, they are its foundations. And, in the realm that is epistemological thought and its application, that is, science, these foundations are absolutely the most sound and solid that there have ever been, or could ever logically be (notwithstanding always, a better theory).
...

Assuming that both the Theories of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics are as true as the certainty of the existence of our awareness and that of the physically real universe are, the chapters that follow will describe how the universe operates, starting with a very brief description of those aspects of relativity that we will apply to the more in-depth discussion of quantum mechanics. A summary understanding of relativity will explain the geometry of space and time (which, for most, may seem to contradict what might be our intuitive notions about them). Relativity’s description of space and time provides the conceptual framework for specifying the character of the tiny world of the most fundamental constituents of all in nature, which is the realm of quantum mechanics (and perhaps, the realm of an even deeper theory still).

The chapters that follow will show you how and why these two theories characterize our universe. They will ultimately describe the physical nature of our very awareness, and explain the significance of its participation in creating this everything we call ‘existence’. Most importantly, these chapters will reveal the ‘reason’ why we and all other life, and the universe, even need to exist, and what ‘purpose’, if there is one, each must ultimately serve. Thus we begin, starting with the classical reality of relativity, which must be understood first, because an understanding of relativity is absolutely ESSENTIAL, for developing a true understanding of quantum mechanics, the latter being apparently the truest ‘explanation’, the truest model of reality, that there is (notwithstanding quantum gravity or string theory, but recognizing that quantum mechanics [like relativity] may, very legitimately, be the generalization of both [which is to say that at measurable scales, either quantum gravity or strings would “look” just like both quantum mechanics and relativity]).



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