Hello, Mr. Barbour:
I still have your winning essay on the nature of time. It's like a fractal to me, I find new structure upon re-reading. new insight and ways of thinking. Anyway, your's and Mr. Rickles and several of the top essays in the contest are what inspired me to join this third one and give it a try.
Mine was one of thelast entries as I frantically proof-read, re-read, and gathered the gumption to actually enter. Then I noticed your entry a couple days before with dread. It's one thing to enjoy you essay as a non-competitor, etc....
Anyway please check out my essay, "A Method to Measure Consciousness, and Demonstrations of Worldy Multiplicity" when you can, and comment if you can. There is no reason here to try to bolster you ego, so I'll just be honest: if you read and/or comment on my own essay, that to me would be a sucess no matter the outcome of this contest. (and encourage me to continue my mid-life foray into natural philophy proper)
Anyway, I'll be back with my comments. But I wanted to past a reply just submitted on another author's thread, as it is germaine to all of the essays, it seems (post follows):
Importantly, though, it would seem there is an over-arching theme (framework) emerging from these essays (among others). That is a debate about hidden dimensions and/or hidden internal structure in the subatomic particles.
The LHC website has a surprising result that is so far unexplained: when protons collide with enough or more force to produce more than 122 particle products or so, the excess partiles travel off in the same direction! Clearly, either a heretofore unknown internal structure is being revealed, and/or those particles are expeiriencing the same force (or the same resultant forces).
FRom your thread, you have touched upon this in your essay, with the help of other's results. In my own essay is an explanation for this. I plan on continuing to develop the implications of my essay whatever the results of this competition, due to the excitement and critical thinking that I've been forced to hone therein. There is another exciting result from my essay, I am learning.
Another article in last months scientific american; where a theoretical physicist bemoans the fact that as a group they are having great trouble picturing what is going on with their various models of reality, due to the great complexity of the equations. Again, the path is laid out in my essay, and the clarification of modern theoretical concepts can be explained " in language a patient bartender can understand".
This is simple, and I can contribute to the advancement of our understanding if given the opportunity.
Pleasure,
TommyG.