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Science Forum Index » Physics - Electromagnetic Forum » A DIALOGUE WITH Lee Smolin & PETER WOIT of Not Even Wrong: T
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 Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:07 am |
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http://physicsmathforums.com
The first step to recovery is admitting there is a problem.
Thanks Dr. Smolin!!
Here are some quotes from your rockin' book and my responses:
"Thus all the theories that triumphed had consequences for experiment
that were simple to work out and could be tested within a few years.
This does not mean that the theories could solved exactly-most theories
never are. But it does mean that physical insight lead immediately to a
prediction of a new physical effect." -Lee Smolin, The trouble With
Physics, The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of Science, and What Comes
Next
While MDT doesn't predict a new physical effect, it does explain
physical phenomena such as entanglement and action-at-a-distance as
never before. Furthermore, it also unifies GR and QM with a simple
physical model. Also, it shows that quantum mechanical and relativistic
phenomena derive from the same underlying physical reality-a fourth
dimension that is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions.
"Whatever else one says about string theory, loop quantum gravity, and
other approaches, they have not delivered on that front. The standard
excuse has been that experiments on this scale are impossible to
perform-but, as we've seen, this is not the case. So there must be
another reason. I believe there is something basic we are all missing,
some wrong assumption we are all making. If this is so, then we need to
isolate the wrong assumption and replace it with a new idea." -Lee
Smolin, The trouble With Physics, The Rise of String Theory, The Fall
of Science, and What Comes Next
The wrong assumption originates from the confusion of time with the
fourth dimension. Time is not the fourth dimension, but it is an
emergent phenomenon that arises from a fourth dimension that is
expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions. Time inherits
certain properties of the fourth dimension, but the over-extending of
the dimensionality of time has lead to troubling and ridiculous
situations such as Godel's block universe, wherein time is frozen; and
wherein the past, present, and future already exist.
The fourth dimension expands at the rate of c in units of the Planck
length. Thus macroscopic objects rarely ever enter into the fourth
expanding dimension deeper than the Planck length. A photon is matter
that surfs the expanding fourth dimension, jumping from crest to crest
of all the tiny expansions of the fourth dimension which manifest
themselves as spheres in the three spatial dimensions. Thus a photon
appears as a spherically expanding wavefront in the three spatial
dimensions. Furthermore, a photon does not age as it stays in the exact
same place in the fourth expanding dimension, causing it to translate
with a velocity of c in the three spatial dimensions.
"What could that wrong assumption be? My guess is that it involves two
things: the foundations of quantum mechanics and the nature of time. We
have already discussed the first; I find it hopeful that new ideas
about quantum mechanics have been proposed recently, motivated by
studies of quantum gravity. But I strongly suspect that the key is
time. More and more, I have the feeling that quantum theory and general
relativity are both deeply wrong about the nature of time. It is not
enough to combine them. There is a deeper problem, perhaps going back
to the origin of physics." -Lee Smolin, The trouble With Physics, The
Rise of String Theory, The Fall of Science, and What Comes Next
MDT takes us back to the origin of physics, and it presents us with a
fundamental view of reality that conforms to all experimental evidence,
while not only resolving the paradoxes of the non-locality of the EPR
effect and Godel's block universe, but unifying the resolution within a
simple physical postulate. Before Einstein's relativity, space and time
(as well as matter and energy) were considered to be disparate
entities. Einstein's relativity united them, and suddenly time was
mistakenly seen as the fourth dimension, rather than as an emergent
property of a fourth dimension expanding relative to three spatial
dimensions. Then, when Einstein correctly saw that all moving objects
are shortened when energy is added-when they are rotated out of the
three spatial dimensions and into a fourth dimension-just as a far-away
ruler appears shortened as it is rotated, Einstein had the genius to
call upon a the four-dimensional formulation of space time.
However, this lead to confusion; as Einstein did not see that
macroscopic objects-rest masses-never enter the fourth dimension deeper
than the Planck length. Hence the past and future do not yet exist, but
only the present. Nor did Einstein realize that the fourth dimension is
expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions-simple postulate
with far-reaching consequences.
"Around the beginning of the seventeenth century, Descartes and Galileo
made a wonderful discovery: You could draw a graph, with one axis being
space and the other being time. A motion through space then becomes a
curve on the graph. In this way, time is represented as if it were
another dimension of space. Motion is frozen, and a whole history of
constant motion and change is presented to us as something static and
unchanging. If I had to guess (and guessing is what I do for a living),
this is the scene of the crime". -Lee Smolin, The trouble With Physics,
The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of Science, and What Comes Next
MDT unfreezes time, liberating us all with free will-the free will to
move beyond ST & LQG, which are not inextricably locked into the fixed
future of the block universe as Brain Green and Paul Davies would have
you suppose. Neither the future nor the past exists. Motion is inherent
in the underlying four-dimensional space-time geometry, as the fourth
dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions.
Einstein noted that all objects are moving through space-time at the
velocity c. This never changes. An object stationary in the three
spatial dimensions is translating through the fourth dimension at the
rate of c. An object stationary in the fourth dimension-a photon-is
translating through the three spatial dimensions at the rate of c.
Hence it is obvious that the fourth dimension is expanding relative to
the three spatial dimensions.
String Theory's greatest contribution to physics has been the utter
rejection of the obvious, the denial of common sense, and the
institutionalization of thousands of mediocrities to ignore or
shout-down any physics that might get in the way of their vast
commercial industries which must trump truth-their salaries, benefits,
and science-fiction books. Indeed, ST gives full license to make one's
ignorance one's arrogance, and thus it is the breeding ground for those
with ambitions overshadowing their talents.
"We have to find a way to unfreeze time-to represent time without
turning it into space. I have to idea how to do this. I can't conceive
of a mathematics that doesn't represent a world as if it were frozen it
eternity. It's terribly hard to represent time, and that's why there's
a good chance this representation is the missing piece." -Lee Smolin,
The trouble With Physics, The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of
Science, and What Comes Next
There actually is no problem with the representation of time in
physical theories, but only within the interpretations and
extrapolations of modern theorists. Time, as it is defined, works
perfectly in quantum mechanics and relativity, as it does in Newtonian
mechanics and classical electrodynamics. Hence our cars and computers
which work perfectly well each and every day.
However, when the notion of time is warped and extrapolated to suit the
fantasies of prominent physicists who ignore login, reason, and
experiment, in order to create wormholes and time machines, it only
goes to show that time is not the fourth dimension, but an emergent
property of a universe wherein a fourth dimension is expanding relative
to the three spatial dimensions.
"One thing is clear: I can't get anywhere thinking about this problem
within the confines of string theory. Since string theory is limited to
the description of strings and branes moving in fixed background
spacetime geometries, it offers nothing for someone who wants to break
new ground thinking about the nature of time or of quantum theory.
Background-independent approaches offer a better starting point,
because they have already transcended the classical pictures of space
and time. And they are simple to define and easy to play with." -Lee
Smolin, The trouble With Physics, The Rise of String Theory, The Fall
of Science, and What Comes Next
Indeed String Theory has banned asking the questions that MDT
addresses, such as "What is the nature of the physical framework
underlying the observed phenomena of relativity and quantum mechanics?"
String theory has bred an entire generation of physicists who believe
that politics, hype, and name-calling are to be preferred over logic,
reason, and truth to advance physics. Sting Theory, though funded with
hundreds of millions, yet lacks the simple truth and beauty of this
postulate-"the fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three
spatial dimensions."
"I won't say any more about this, because I want to move on to a
different question. Suppose an intellectually ambitious young person
with an original and impatient mind wants to think deeply about the
five great questions. Given our failure to solve any of them, I can't
imagine why such a person would want to be limited to working in any of
the current research programs. Clearly, if string theory or loop
quantum gravity by themselves were the answer, we would know it by now.
They may be starting points, they may be parts of the answer, they may
contain necessary lessons. But the right theory must contain new
elements, which our ambitious young person is perhaps uniquely
qualified to search for." -Lee Smolin, The trouble With Physics, The
Rise of String Theory, The Fall of Science, and What Comes Next
Perhaps the excessive funding of theories never backed by experiment
has resulted in institutions that now oppose the advancement of
physics. With mortgages to be paid and families to be supported, who
can afford truth and beauty after investing thirty years into mythology
and group-think? Smolin is to be commended for firing a warning shot
across the bow of all young physicists-letting them know that they, if
they are to be true physicists, are essentially on their own. For the
advancement of science has ever been the domain of the individual, as
has the creation of all lasting art, philosophy, literature, and
culture. Make no mistake-the individual truth seeker is not alone in
the context of the greats-they stand upon the shoulders of giants-but
they are often alone in the context of their contemporaries. String
Theory, by deconstructing great physicists and science, has tried to
invert this, placing politics over philosophy and money over meaning,
and that is why they are destined to fail. For as Shakespeare said,
"foul deeds will rise, thou all the earth overwhelm them, to men's
eyes."
"What has my generation has bequeathed to these young scientists? Ideas
and techniques they may or may not want to use, together with a
cautionary tale of partial success in several directions, resulting in
a general failure to finish the job Einstein started a hundred years
ago. The worst thing we could do would be to hold them back by
insisting that they work on our ideas. So the question for the last
part of the book is a question I ask myself every morning: Are we doing
all we can to support and encourage young scientist-and, by the virtue
of this, ourselves-to transcend what we have done these last thirty
years and find the true theory that solves the five greatest problems
in physics?" -Lee Smolin, The trouble With Physics, The Rise of String
Theory, The Fall of Science, and What Comes Next
I would encourage young physicists to spend a couple hours reviewing
Moving Dimensions Theory. It already answers two of Smolin's "five
great questions."
http://physicsmathforums.com
Not Even Wrong is indeed Not Even Wrong. Is MDT? |
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| Amadeus Polonium-210 |
| Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:40 pm |
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I agree, what you say about time "being a dimension" -- and
it's not all Minkowski's fault, since he might have qualified it --
just like Bucky Fuller saith. however,
teh rest of it is horseshit; there is no *semblance* of a theory,
just obfuscating metaphors re spacetime -- forget it, or
learn some of it before your next attempt.... ah; I notice that
you've already renonuced Woit!
Quote: While MDT doesn't predict a new physical effect, it does explain
physical phenomena such as entanglement and action-at-a-distance as
never before. Furthermore, it also unifies GR and QM with a simple
physical model. Also, it shows that quantum mechanical and relativistic
phenomena derive from the same underlying physical reality-a fourth
dimension that is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions.
The wrong assumption originates from the confusion of time with the
fourth dimension. Time is not the fourth dimension, but it is an
emergent phenomenon that arises from a fourth dimension that is
expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions. Time inherits
certain properties of the fourth dimension, but the over-extending of
the dimensionality of time has lead to troubling and ridiculous
situations such as Godel's block universe, wherein time is frozen; and
wherein the past, present, and future already exist.
MDT unfreezes time, liberating us all with free will-the free will to
I would encourage young physicists to spend a couple hours reviewing
Moving Dimensions Theory. It already answers two of Smolin's "five
great questions."
http://physicsmathforums.com
Not Even Wrong is indeed Not Even Wrong. Is MDT?
thus:
yeah. like, what in Hell is it supposed to mean, that
"the 4th d. expands relative to the 3 others,"
that does not involve windmill-like handwaving
about the Big Bang theory -- is it an alternative metaphor for that,
and
how is it any different?
Quote: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/
http://superstringtheory.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory
I don't want to sound like I am a proponent or contender for this
theory, but for now, your argument has been shown to be weaker than
string theory itself. You see the theory that what a star likes or
dislikes determining physical reality, is ludicrous, please learn how
to present your own ideas so they stand on their own. Unless of course
your some sort of groupy that would do anything a stupid entertainer
desires, however ignorant.
thus:
it's just phase-space; get a grip on it & rotate!...
Hamiltonians, Lagrangians, Lanczos' treatment
in _Variational Mechanics_ e.g.
Quote: I'd said before that the geometry of special relativity adds very little
to what was already present in Newtonian mechanics, and I stick by that.
thus:
quod erat duh, but "vocabulary" is not so much his problem,
concerning the trivium or 3 Rs; after all,
"Stan was the first grammarian...."
anyway, this item should be retitiled as"the League of Crotchety Old
Men,"
or some thing just as relevant to its status in the scientific method;
it's just a past-time, or time-waster!...
re below, I wish taht I could access JSTOR from here;
can't even see the titles of Maas' problems.
Quote: He neither threatened you nor incited death. Time to review some
vocabulary perhaps?
thus:
only this time, he'll be back in the superhero sense
that apparently/supposedly elected a Governeurateur in Kahlee, because
he appears to be making an attempt to improve his linguistic skills,
which I'd argue is the crux of the matter (much more obvious,
with a quasibilingual like monsieur Plutoniac)....
I mean, "imperative defense equations" has a ring,
as well as sounding awefully defensive....
nothing that a lot of Shakespeare couldn't help;
in that other guy's case, that and Schiller, in some order.
Quote: JSH is finally out of steam.
Nah, he'll be back.
thus:
I did notice that that was one of the places
where Bono's pages had content, but
I didn't quickly find any thing that wasn't just fluff;
any one else find it?
thus:
of n=92?... I'm not really sure of the dystinction
of "trans-uranium elements," other than
the one-to-one mapping with the archimedean solids!
thus:
I see; so, now your requirement is that
you have a sort of fixed jumble of various blocks,
not the "optimized" packing of them?...
may as well generalize this to rectangular parallelipipeds; eh?
Quote: the smallest rectangle that can enclose a given set of rectangles?
Yes. BTW, width and height of the enclosing rectangle might be variable.
The original orientation of the n rectangles must remain the same.
Rotating them is not allowed.
thus:
surface of sphere is pi times d "squared;" so that
the area of its circumferential circle is pi times d to the second
power
divided by four (ciircumference, as you said, pi times d).
volume of sphere is pi times d to the third power over 6.
thus:
excellent comparison, considering that *some* one broke the "chain
of evidence" with OJ's bloodsample.
Quote: abusive, evidence-falsifying all-'round bad cop and
now he's the 'expert' CNN uses anytime there's an
issue involving police. He should be in jail, but
http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~motl/
thus:
Hollinger began as an arms manufacturer,
sort-of like EMI. so, look forward to the day when
Obnoxico Music Corp. gets into laser pistols.
this just in:
yesterday's (Tues,. Nov.15) *UCLA Daily Bruin* finally noted that
darfur is entirely Muslim, though downplaying it AMAP.
thus:
Dick Cheeny, Don Rumsfeld, Osama bin Latin and HARRY POTTER
-- which is a real, fictional character? -- form a mission
to Darfur, to prevent a war instead of to start one:
if Darfur is "100% Muslim," then
what's really going on, there?
is it just aother British Quag for USA soldiers to get bogged
into, with Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan et al ad vomitorium,
under auspices of the UN and NATO?
why won't the Bruin publish the fact of Islam on the ground,
therein?
thus:
Why doesn't the [UCLA Daily] Bruin report that
Darfur's populace is "100%" Muslim,
according to the DAC's sponsor,
Terry Saunders?...
"99%" was the figure given
by Brian Steidle, when I finally found
him at the Hammer, after everyone else
had left (he, his friend & I were the
very last to leave!)...
What could it possibly mean?
--The Other Side (if it exists ... nah !-) |
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