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Looking into the past with a telescope
On Jan 28, 8:37 pm, Greg Crinklaw wrote: Starboard wrote: First I'd like to state that what I am going to describe will be described from a perspective that did not exist. I state the obvious only because earlier, Greg shot me down for my metaphor about a guy watching the big bang expand. He quickly stated that such a condition was impossible. Of course I knew that I was only trying to conduct a little thought experiment. Much the same, the analogy of the balloon. After all, people cannot exist as 2D creatures right? That's the equivalent of starting a metaphor with, "assume a cow is spherical."I think you need to stop being so stuck on your own view and instead try to understand the one people are presenting you with. Please try to let go of your preconceptions. A good popular book on cosmology might help a lot. As you read it, come back here and ask questions to clarify things. To answer your question above, the 2D world is an analogy. Don't confuse this with a model of the universe--it isn't. It's just an analogy meant to explain a concept. It is *not* the same as your cow assumption! As a 3D being you understand the world in 3 dimensions. But what if there are more dimensions than you can perceive? What would that look like? The answer is that you'd observe some odd things about the universe--things that don't easily fit into your 3D view, like a universe that expands away from any point within it, and has no center. The guy can enjoy Albert's orginal 1920 explanation for 'warped space' at a time before galaxies were observationally observed, - http://www.bartleby.com/173/31.html Now Albert's idea for 'bending space' was the lament that light leaving stars would go to waste hence if you bend space....,in any case you can read the hilaroius reasons in the preceding chapter - "This view is not in harmony with the theory of Newton. The latter theory rather requires that the universe should have a kind of centre in which the density of the stars is a maximum, and that as we proceed outwards from this centre the group-density of the stars should diminish, until finally, at great distances, it is succeeded by an infinite region of emptiness. The stellar universe ought to be a finite island in the infinite ocean of space. This conception is in itself not very satisfactory. It is still less satisfactory because it leads to the result that the light emitted by the stars and also individual stars of the stellar system are perpetually passing out into infinite space, never to return, and without ever again coming into interaction with other objects of nature. Such a finite material universe would be destined to become gradually but systematically impoverished. " So you get to see Albert reject the possibility of stellar galactic islands,you get to see his reasons for 'bending' a non geometric term called 'space' and you get to see a bunch of people reach conclusions that match a 1898 science diction novel by H.G. Well's 'Scientific people,' proceeded the Time Traveller, after the pause required for the proper assimilation of this, 'know very well that Time is only a kind of Space." 1898 WELLS http://www.bartleby.com/1000/1.html As for Newton who started the mess,at least he never called for or used an idea of a 'universal center',that was not his style and he is actually explicit about things - "Cor. 2. And since these stars are liable to no sensible parallax from the annual motion of the earth, they can have no force, because of their immense distance, to produce any sensible effect in our system. Not to mention that the fixed stars, every where promiscuously dispersed in the heavens, by their contrary actions destroy their mutual actions, by Prop. LXX, Book I." Newton If you can find a place in Newton's agenda,and he was an opportunist,that states he requires a universal center then good luck to you,the one thing about Newton that he was far cleverer than you or any of those early 20th century fopes. The 2D analogy is there merely as a means of investigating how more dimensions than can be sensed can produce a universe with some of these odd characteristics. You have to imagine a 2D being who knows nothing beyond the surface of the balloon. The entire universe is the surface only. So when the balloon is blown up, where is the center? The answer is twofold: for the 2D being it has no center. But for you as a 3D being you can see that the center lies in a dimension beyond that of the surface of the balloon. What is obvious to the 3D being is not apparent at all to the 2D being. Her only hope is to note some odd things about her universe and postulate more dimensions to explain them. Try to imagine this analogy from the point of view of the 2D being. Think about questions like, what would they observe if someone from outside blew up the balloon? If they started out in one direction and traveled far enough, they would come back to where they started. That would seem like magic. So how would they explain that scientifically? But please keep in mind that the universe is NOT the surface of a balloon. Again, it is the concept of what more dimensions than can be perceived might look like that is important. Once that concept is understood, then understand that in our own universe there are some weird things that can't easily be explained in 3D. But postulating more dimensions explains them neatly. Greg -- Greg Crinklaw Astronomical Software Developer Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m) SkyTools: http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html Observing:http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html Comets: http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets.html To reply take out your eye |
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