Essay Abstract

Three aspects essential to reality are defined. Rules are laided out which limit and describe whether a system communicates. The minimum essential factor determining existence, communication and physics, is the mathematics of change. The calculus is the basis of time and all measurement. If an entity does not change, it does not communicate and therefore, does not exist mathematically nor physically.

Author Bio

Mary Ann Slaby earned a B.A. in Zoology from the University of California at Berkeley. She now owns a research company which produces the following informational and forecasting websites: www.earthquakeforecast.com; www.hurricaneforecast.com; www.twisterforecast.com; www.supernovaforecast.com; www.ebolasleuth.com (a causal vector linking the recent outbreak of Ebola with the local, carion eating, Red River Pig is identified); www.alienactivitydetected.com (the existence of extra-terrestial life in the Universe is explored, describing how and why travel to Earth at fraction of the speed of light is possible); and www.psoriasispolice.com (psoriasis cure prospectus pitch to interested drug companies).

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I read your essay and although I found it difficult to understand I wanted to ask you a question. Hopefully I am interpreting your thoughts correctly. You talk about how an "abstract" reality can have effects on future minds in your example with the Constitution. I interpreted that to mean that non-physical ideas also play a cause and effect role, just like physical objects can. Do you think it is possible to move some of those ideas that you view of existing in some abstract reality, into a physical reality (or vice versa) so there is only one reality? Do you think ideas could be merely physical, as in a hierarchy of connected neurons in the brain?

I saw a lot of talk of the continuum being the basis of existence in your essay, so I'm not sure if you will agree with my brief Digital Physics movie essay, but please check it out if you have the chance.

Thanks,

Jon

    Greek thought the rock knew (had a consciousness) and was just returning to its natural position - this created the universe's garbage pile we call earth (garbage from heaven). Crystal spheres or dark matter - what is the difference? A comet crashed through the crystal spheres and dark matter has yet to be found.

    Abstract ideas do have a cause & effect relationship. In the writing of a Constitution, for example, or the abstract planning to develop any idea, once it is put into physical steps (as measured events like the writing on paper), it become a tangible entity; then, when it is accepted as a social structure (ie as a democracy, practiced by electing officials), then the "abstract idea" becomes a cause of a social structure, a physical hierarchy of a human representation as a form of government.

    I look forward to viewing your digital physics essay. Thank you. Mary

    Interesting set of thoughts, Mary Ann

    The question of time in physics does appear to be a significant issue these days. I like your adding the 'abstract' as part of what affects reality.

    You do seem to presume something called 'mathematics' as a somehow static set of knowledge, which the universe could follow. The history of mathematics shows mathematcs as dynamic (if slow to change) and needing correction (eg. Non-Euclidean geometry) and as such cannot be the basis of reality, in any form we understand.

    Also, studies of the brain show we do not operate like a computer, as you depict. Rather we anticipate and build a picture of our world from our expectations, not from a 3-D image. This helps to understand why we expect nature to follow a mathematical pattern. Mathematics is our conscious attempt to abstract our world. We semi or unconsciously build an internal world of expectation, so we find it easy to expect the external world to follow our consciousness abstracted world of mathematics.

    Thank you for reading the essay. i wanted to clarify a few things that you mentioned.

    I am not the first to add the abstract as an aspect of reality. Math is static; it is an abstract tool that generates no reality, but it does quantify what is said. Our expectations arise from conditioning which is a patterned play of our needs, fears and pleasure. These behaviors, I argue, arise from a evolutionary programmed protocol, with computer like do loops.

    Mary

    Dear Mary,

    Its really interesting to read your essay, especially from one solid biological interventions about realizations of reality to describe connections between physics and mathematics.

    Probably, you draw there a nature within the communicable reach of "metabolic mind". But what would you say beyond that reach if anything there subsists and is 'shy' to communicate with us? Although, being the part of a same whole nature or universe (as like as ours)that part might have also a physics and a mathematics? Present scenarios in physics also now guess that about 95% of our surrounding nature is really very much shy to communicate with us?

    Moreover, you may right where "sequences" follow the casualty but what it would be if there all broken casualties?

    Best wishes

    Dipak

      Dear Mary Ann,

      I just read your essay, you present some interesting ideas (especially the interpretation of quantum frequencies as frame change for a.particular energy). Please allow me in the spirit of constructive criticism to mention the following:

      1. You mentioned Planck's constant as "6.626 x 10^(-34) erg-sec", actually the number you gave corresponds to the value in Joule-sec, and since 1 erg is 10^(-7) Joules, the value is 6.626 x 10^(-27) erg-sec. I personally don't care much about it here because you are not performing a complex calculation, but some professional physicists who see this may note it as a negative point.The numerical value of 4.76 x 10^42 is correct if you take the energy to be in Joules.

      2. The story about the 2 psychologists is most likely an urban legend which inspired by the Harlow experiments on maternal attachement in Rhesus Monkeys, see for instance:

      http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~adoption/studies/HarlowMLE.htm

      3. You said: mass is a entity which exists in 3 dimensionals, either as a singlet or more, and can be described as a "standing" wave: ОЁв€--ОЁ"

      Actually, in quantum mechanics, mass is presumed to refer to essentially the same concept as in classical physics, namely a measure of inertia (this is indicated by the fact that unlike for momentum and Energy, there is no "mass operator"). The wavefunction ОЁ does not refer to the mass of a system but to its "state". The only way I can try to explain what this means in a few lines is to compare it to the concept of a "state" in classical physics: There, the "state" of the system is essentially anything that can be said about a system once you know what its position and its momentum is. Classically, you can derive any other physical information about the system if you have this information. A major difference between a quantum state and a classical state (at least as they are usually formulated) is that the former can always be expressed in terms of a "superposition" of other states. A hand-wavy analogy to this is an arrow, or vector, in a Cartesian xy-coordinate system: You can always the decompose the vector into two constituent arrows, one along x, and the other along y. The quantum state is also a vector, and the space in which it "lives" is not a Cartesian coordinate system but something called the Hilbert space.

      Finally, ОЁв€--ОЁ has a definite interpretation which is independent of mass, namely, by the so-called Born rule it is the probability per unit space of finding the system in a particular region.

      Unfortunately, one of the things that can get confusing in quantum mechanics (unless one studies it in some depth) is that quantum states play multiple roles at the same time: They can be thought of as points in phase space, "waves" in configuration space, "vectors" in Hilbert space, and probability amplitudes (i.e. "square roots" of probability densities) in real space. However, the assertion that "mass can be described as a "standing wave"" cannot at this time be supported (at least without strong qualifications) given our current state of knowledge, however intuitive it may seem.

      4. You said "Even today we have no real, no further understanding of the nature of time other than that set up from the calculus."

      Depending on what you mean by "set up from the calculus" this may or may not be correct. In basic calculus, time is just a parameter in terms of which changes in spatial coordinates can be expressed, e.g. x(t), y(t), z(t). However, our understanding of time has evolved significantly from this starting point, and different physical theories have different conceptions of time which, unfortunately, seem at times mutually contradictory. For example, there is the quantum mechanical, thermodynamical, special and general relativistic and cosmological conception time. To the extent that continuity plays a role in all of these conceptions, it is correct they spring from the basic framework "set up from the calculus". However, I do tend to think that framing it this way is a little misleading. It strikes me as similar as saying that that our understanding of change in quantity is "set up from addition", and ignoring the role of, say, subtraction, multiplication, exponentiation, integration etc.

      5. You said "Two sets may be subsets of one another,..."

      Actually, no, unless they are the same set (at least in ZFC). The axiom of regularity prevents two unequal sets from including each other. Perhaps you meant, "A set may be a subset of another..."

      I hope you found my criticism useful, as mentioned I thought your concept of frame change was interesting and may deserve more looking into.

      Best wishes,

      Armin

      Thank you Armin for reading my essay. The essay has a few defects that I would have cleaned up but I fell on the ice during the recent storm 3 days before the deadline and just hurt too bad to be as meticulous as I should have.

      1- I tried to locate the reference about the psychiatrists but could not; it was actually a story. That the professor told in class. The outcome of the experiment was devastating, I am sure to their expectations.

      2- you are correct about h bar.

      3- I used mass as a quark string; 3D.

      4- In spite of all the laws of thermodynamics, Hubble's Law, QM, etc we have no further real understanding of what time really is, how it is structured with respect to physical process to "tick", etc.

      5-on your subset comment, I disagree. Although you may be logically correct, I was alluding to a unbeknownst connection of two seemingly unrelated subsets that became subset following some new discovery. For instance gravity is not thought of as being temperature dependent, yet one of the frame dragging probes NASA sent up, demonstrated a huge coupling near absolute zero.

      Your comments were quite perceptive and very sharp. Thank you Armin. Mary

      Dear Dipak:

      I think what you are referring to is "dark energy and dark matter" of which we are unable to communicate except for gravity. Matter outside our ability to interact is not knowable. Scientists are actively trying to get additional evidence on what is the nature of this phenomena to extend a complete picture of the Universe.

      Mary

      7 days later

      Dear Ms. Slaby,

      I have no wish to be disrespectful to you or to your essay, but I think abstract mathematics and abstract physics and abstract declarations of there possibly being an abstract "Unified Field and Experience Equation" have nothing to do with how the real Universe is occurring for the following real reason:

      Do let me know what you think about this: This is my single unified theorem of how the real Universe is occurring: Newton was wrong about abstract gravity; Einstein was wrong about abstract space/time, and Hawking was wrong about the explosive capability of abstract NOTHING. Proof exists that every real astronomer looking through a real telescope has failed to notice that each of the real galaxies he has observed is unique as to its structure and its perceived distance from all other real galaxies. Each real star is unique as to its structure and its perceived distance apart from all other real stars. Every real scientist who has peered at real snowflakes through a real microscope has concluded that each real snowflake is unique as to its structure. Real structure is unique, once. Unique, once does not consist of abstract amounts of abstract quanta. Based on one's normal observation, one must conclude that all of the stars, all of the planets, all of the asteroids, all of the comets, all of the meteors, all of the specks of astral dust and all real objects have only one real thing in common. Each real object has a real material surface that seems to be attached to a material sub-surface. All surfaces, no matter the apparent degree of separation, must travel at the same constant speed. No matter in which direction one looks, one will only ever see a plethora of real surfaces and those surfaces must all be traveling at the same constant speed or else it would be physically impossible for one to observe them instantly and simultaneously. Real surfaces are easy to spot because they are well lighted. Real light does not travel far from its source as can be confirmed by looking at the real stars, or a real lightning bolt. Reflected light needs to adhere to a surface in order for it to be observed, which means that real light cannot have a surface of its own. Real light must be the only stationary substance in the real Universe. The stars remain in place due to astral radiation. The planets orbit because of atmospheric accumulation. There is no space.

      Warm regards,

      Joe Fisher

      Dear Joe:

      What I mean with respect to the unified field and experience equation is that all knowledge stems from the mind of the beholders. Some question if there is any meaning to physics if there was no life. I tried to separate out this variable in measurement, then proceeded to try to describe how time was structured. My big point is that without change, of which time is an aspect, there would be working Universe.

      I have noted that you dismiss most of the major understandings that are current in modern astronomy. That is your option. It is not my view, however.

      Mary Ann

        Dear Mary Ann,

        Thank you for not reporting to Fqxi.org that my comment was inappropriate and by doing so have the Administrator classify it as Obnoxious Spam and remove it.

        Without the exceptionally dedicated meticulous work of the astronomers, and microscope wielders, there would be no way that I could truthfully aver that each galaxy is unique as to its structure and to its distance set apart from all other galaxies. Each star is unique as to its structure and to its distance set apart from all other stars. And each snowflake is unique as to its structure.

        Respectfully,

        Joe Fisher

        Well Joe, to your credit no two electron (and there are quite a few running around) have the same quantum state at the same time. So maybe stars don't either- they at least have different locations in space. If you continue to feel guilty, you can totally remedy this by giving me at 10 on this essay!

        Mary

        11 days later

        Dear Mary Ann,

        I especially liked this important conclusion: "The minimum essential factor determining existence, communication and physics, is the mathematics of change." My high score for accentuation of communication of mathematics, physics and the "LifeWorld" (E.Husserl).

        I invite you to see my analysis of the philosophical foundations of mathematics and physics, the method of ontological constructing of the primordial generating structure, "La Structure mère" as the ontological framework, carcass and foundation of knowledge, the core of which - the ontological (structural, cosmic) memory and information - polyvalent phenomenon of the ontological (structural) memory of Universum as a whole. I believe that the scientific picture of the world should be the same rich senses of the "LifeWorld", as a picture of the world lyricists , poets and philosophers.

        Kind regards,

        Vladimir

          Dearly Beloved Mary Ann,

          Your essay makes an interesting reading.Much more facinating is your inclination to drive home your conclusion using the calculus developed by Newton and Leibniz.You fall among the category of scientists that "add" rather than substract from the existing retinue of knowledge.I adore the progression of your arguments and harbour no hesitation whatsoever in recommending you highly for elevation.

          Keep on flourishing;and please do read;make a comment and rate my essay.

          Remain Blessed.

          Lloyd Tamarapreye Okoko.

          Dear Mary,

          I think Newton was wrong about abstract gravity; Einstein was wrong about abstract space/time, and Hawking was wrong about the explosive capability of NOTHING.

          All I ask is that you give my essay WHY THE REAL UNIVERSE IS NOT MATHEMATICAL a fair reading and that you allow me to answer any objections you may leave in my comment box about it.

          Joe Fisher

          Dear Mary Ann,

          Thank you for commenting on my essay.

          Einstein and all of the philosophers were complet6ely wrong about reality because they only attempted to abstractly describe an abstract universe.

          Do you have a real complete skin surface? Does the room you are presently in have a real complete floor, ceiling and walls surfaces? Does every object in the room have a real complete surface? Does everything you have ever seen have a real complete surface? Have you never noticed that no matter in which direction you look, you will only ever see a plethora of partial surfaces that meld seamlessly into one surface?

          Joe Fisher

            Ok Joe: YOU connect the abstract with the "skin" and stand as a giant over Einstein & Newton.

            Mary