Ever since I read about Einstein’s theories in our encyclopedia when I was a curious 10 year old, I have been trying to comprehend them as best I can. Special Relativity was mind-blowing, General Relativity more so and yet once you have spent enough time contemplating it, I think one can see it is actually quite natural – its like trying to understand the shape of a box by realising that each corner of a box knows only of other possible corners in time, not outside of time.

Every thought experiment regarding relativity must keep these philosophical premises in mind. Even just by imagining a box being a real box, one must realise you are observing a box in time as well. the simple Euclidean concept of the box is vastly different to the observation of a box in reality.

The concept of relativity arises from these principles:

1. The physical rules of immediate reality are consistent for any location in space-time, this comes from the fact that you need a reason for them to be different in different locations and would mean the existence of more external forces and relations. Its actually a philosophical paradox because there can be no external relations if reality itself is inclusive of anything and everything by definition. This means it is true by default and its pretty much the only absolute.

2. Causality is an observable fact – if it were not true, then whatever is true is immitating causality very well and has been doing so across a vast area of space-time. The places where causality breaks down is where the observer is so immediately intertwined with the observed, that the questions the observer asks have a direct feedback effect and so causality becomes a very fuzzy question and answer. For causality to exist so prevalently, there must be a time interval between action and consequence across space.

3. Certainty can only exist as a result of universal consistency (point 1) combined with the necessity of a time interval in causality (point 2) – thus causality itself is observed as time. Time is the causal interaction between observer and observed. Anything that can be known faster than the speed of causality must be uncertain.

These 3 points give rise to general relativity and leave open a realm for uncertain universal knowledge – currently this is the quantum realm. I may add that its entirely possible that certainty is an illusion and that general relativity can be described from uncertain math (currently quantum math) – however, that would not be inconsistent with still using relativity for the classical realm as well. However certain an observers position is, if it can be shown to be as certain as the observed, then classical math can still apply, even if this is an illusion overall.

Time is not a dimension – it is the appearance of causality in motion in an inherently unstable, uncertain spatial frame made from 3 dimensions alone. More dimensions than this would have to be hidden, since they would violate the appearance of a 3 dimensional consistency – the only thing that comes close to breaking this is the quantum action at a distance – however it is still entirely within the realm of uncertainty that these effects operate and so there is no inconsistency. More dimensions merely complicate things unnecessarily and solve nothing that appears to be real.

So many physicsts these days are bogged down in math that I think many have failed to really apply philosophy to their reasoning to work with that which is possible in any universe.

I look forward to more philospohy entering the realm of modern physics to allow a clearer shared vision of our universe.

Tags: Philosophy, Science // Add Comment »