Essay Abstract

Reality exists necessarily. Because it is neither derivative nor dependent, it exists without and in spite of the existence of prescient beings. Prescient beings can only try to predict it based upon discreet observations. Observations map slices of reality in models meant to predict outcomes. The predictions are discontinuous and fleeting. Reality tends to mock humankind's attempts to explain it. Theories that model an analogue flow of reality come closer to truth. Models are usually digitally based but what they model attempts to simulate the movement and dynamism that reality contains. Reality flows smoothly through eons of time and is a recurring story of birth, death and rebirth, as the singularities of black holes and the Big Bang in their duality might represent. Prescient beings are carried along with that reality while the sub-atomic and the huge know one another in a reality we still can't model.

Author Bio

I am recently retired from the Boeing Company in Huntington Beach, California, working as a systems engineer. My career in aerospace stretches back over twenty years and involves cost analysis, cost modeling and logistics research. In that span of years I have taught college courses in education, economics, computer science and English. Before the aerospace milestone, I taught high school. In my retirement, I teach online communication classes for Phoenix University and write a column online. I have Masters Degrees in Economics and English and my personal interests and studies include particle physics, cosmology and UFO engineering.

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  • Post #2

Dear James,

wanted to let you know I have read you essay. After having read many very complex and highly technical ones it is quite a refreshing relief to read something written very clearly and in plain English.It is nice the way you introduce your essay with a definition. You then give a very broad overview of the topic of reality.I think it -is- very important to consider what is meant by the term reality. I can empathize with your decision to approach the essay question in that particular way. I think your reminder that whatever we think about reality, life -and death go on puts the whole matter back into some kind of humble and accepting perspective. I now feel like singing "Don't worry - be happy!"

Regards and best wishes, Georgina.

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    • Post #3

    Thank you, Georgina. My simple approach arises from a rather simple understanding, but an acute interest and curiosity about cosmology, something my former education and experience didn't acquaint me with.

    The Big Bang and Black Holes are absolutely intriguing and humbling wonders.

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    • Post #4

    Hello again Jim,

    In our essays we have covered a lot of common ground.

    I question whether your clock analog, which by implication extends backwards and forwards into the past and future, is in fact a good fit. My reading would be that the only reality that we have any clear perception of is "now", and "now" and "now"! As such it is at once a point in time, multiple simultaneous points in time, and (at any particular point in time) the prospect of future points in time.

    When you acknowledge (on p.5) that "there are models to depict whatever hypothesis you want to pose", is this truly consistent with your essay title "Reality is Analog ...." when you have stated that such models are typically digital? Is a model of reality real? Can we get any closer to the truth?

    Continuing, how should we distinguish string theory from the aether? In my book we suffer from an obdurate confusion between space as volume, dimensions that are means of describing it, and what space contains - which are merely contents.

    Good luck in your quest. Remember that all the "real" riches are to be found in the process rather than at the end of the road. Cheers!

      Hello James, I liked the flow of your essay and it's easy reading which made a lot of sense. I particularly liked this statement "Yet, humankind's assumption that nothing existed before the Big Bang is also static judgment". I heartily agree and think that a buildup of structure before the big bang is a much more fruitful path of enquiry. Best wishes, Alan

        Forgive me Jim, but I've taken the liberty of copying a reply to a question of your's from my own essay forum. It poses an interesting question which I'd like to share with a wider audience:

        "I recommend Luminet's book, although I only really enjoyed the first few chapters or so. He continues with his own take on reality which wasn't something that took my interest unfortunately. The basic principle of a wraparound universe and having a mental image of how it can simplify the 'infinity paradox' is of paramount importance imo. I'd just like to re-iterate my point about a spinning helix which travels around a hypersphere being analogous to an electric circuit. Imagine you are on the inside of a battery which is connected to a simple loop of wire which makes an electric circuit. Imagine a handle rotates clockwise from the positive terminal as seen from your internal perspective. Now trace this turning handle as it travels along the wire and arrives at the negative terminal of the battery. Which way is the handle now turning from the viewpoint of the battery's interior? Is it clockwise or is it anti-clockwise?"

        Thank you, Alan, you are very kind.

        I agree with your assessment of Luminet. My idea of symmetry can't posit a wraparound universe. It makes me think of a "funhouse".

        Jim Hoover

        Gary,

        My view of reality is independent of prescient beings and their measurement of time. Still I need to use human trappings to provide a metaphor.

        Good points.

        Jim

        Hi Jim, there's a playful mind game and question at the end of my last post, I think you may have missed it. Do you see the connection between spin, loops and mirror images? Best wishes, Alan

        Alan,

        Should have caught your reflective statement.

        Jim

        4 days later

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        • Post #11

        Jim,

        I like how you touched on many topics, yet your essay still flowed nicely.

        We (humans) are just on the edge of starting to understand. You showed how long the path is in front of us.

        All the best,

        Jeff

          Jim

          An enjoyable read, thank you, and worth a higher position. Rather than discuss black holes etc. here I give you a link, for a short paper I think you'll enjoy, derived from the basic theory I give here and a paper currently in Peer review. our views need updating.

          And a test, (try it before you link to the above can you spot the black hole in the piccies in my essay. It's only visible via lensing. The solution is in the paper.

          Enjoy, and do tell me if you can follow the logic in my essay (you must read it slowly and absorb it), and views on the paper.

          Best wishes

          Peter

            Thanks, Peter. Higher positions depend on other contestants and FQXi members, none of which I know.

            At any rate, I do not find your link.

            Jim

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            • Post #15

            OK, Jim, this absolutely non-scientific brain followed maybe one-forth of the topic and reasoning presented. I didn't read others, so I can't compare to them, but you definitely caught my interest and attention with several of the topics with which I am familiar. I can say that you tweaked my interest enough that I'll at least scan (and maybe read) articles I run across that cover this topic. What I also can say is that I don't expect to read Hawkins anytime soon. You know what that says at my age. :-) Thank you for including me. I do enjoy your writing. Hugs Noreen :-)

            Jim,

            I really enjoyed your essay, which offers an intriguing depiction of the flowing nature of reality. I like your metaphor of the Phoenix, and your emphasis of renewal. It is interesting that many ancient cultures depicted the cosmos as an endless cycle.

            Best wishes,

            Paul

            Paul.

            It seems that more and more scientists are looking at the recycle theme. The first I came across was Steinhardt and Turok in the book Endless Universe. Now with the relationship of quasars to star formation in galaxies, more theories of galaxy recycling are being posited too.

            Thanks for the nice words.

            Jim

            Dear James,

            I wanted to say hello and let you know I enjoyed your essay. I like how it touches on the limits of what we can know about reality. Your discussions of black holes and quatum mechanics are interesting, and I wanted to ask a bit more about your thoughts on the quantum mechanics side. Do you think physics will get to a clearly defined point where it says this is as far is we can figure and nothing can be explored deeper? Does it seem like we will always be able to find ways to explain existing theories with deeper models?

            Thanks for your interesting essay!

            Kind regards, Russell Jurgensen

              Thanks, Russell.

              You pose a heavy and profound question. Somehow I feel that our view of reality will always be distorted just like our atmosphere distorts the view of space. Beyond that, I must lose my body.

              Jim

              Dear Jim,

              I have just finished your essay and must say it was enjoyable. Your essay has a poetic quality missing in most of the entries. One of my favorite lines:

              "The long waves of cosmic truth appear to wash upon our shores like an almost 14 billion year old ejection of a super-volcano, the ultimate eruption models calls the Big Bang, this being our way of explaining the phantom forces that still echo in our observatories of earth and near-space. But even the microwave image of the cosmic background reveals a curtain covering the Big Bang"s origin."

              This one paragraph carries considerable weight. I hope you enjoyed my essay as much, as I would agree we have similar interests.

              Best Regards,

              Dan