How Things Work: A Brief History of Reality
BOOK II: The Power of Three (#63. "E=mc2 – Part 1")
Be A Part of the Conversation!
Tuesday, December 26, 2022
“Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.”
Letter from A.Einstein to Karl Schwarzschild (Berlin, 9 January 1916)
PREFACE
Welcome Everybody!
Modern science, or “classical physics,” begins with Descartes and the Scientific Method. It establishes Reality as two separate expressions of “Mind,” one rational, focusing on the non-physical reality of spirit, and one empirical, focusing on the tangible objective world of physicality. The objective physical world could be rationally understood through mathematics, geometry, and the discipline of science. The foundation for the new scientific discipline was built on the idea that these two expressions of mind reflected fundamentally, and inherently, different expressions, or manifestations, of Reality.
“…once they begin to delve the depths of this new quantum possibility; the Reality we once accepted as self-evidently ‘true,’ begins to unravel.”
The rational world of mind, or spirit, was not suitable to scientific inquiry because it was not empirical, or objective in a “physical” way. The empirical world of physicality was tangible, in that it “occupied” space, “existed” in time, and “could be measured.” This idea of Reality led to an amazing scientific and technological revolution eventually resulting in the “atomic age” of science, or physics. However, once science begins to delve the depths of this new quantum possibility; the Reality we once accepted as self-evidently “true,” begins to unravel.
The person responsible for pulling the quantum thread that starts unravelling all the certainties connected to both science and religion, is Albert Einstein. The thread that starts it all is E=mc2.
CONSIDERATION #63 – E=mc2
We can now begin to recognize a pattern in Einstein’s thinking and approach to problem solving. It could be argued that Einstein is the epitome of “out of the box thinking.” What others saw as inherently opposite, or incongruent possibilities, Einstein saw as two sides of the same coin.
“While other physicists attempted to figure out the ‘problem’ of why the speed of light appeared relative, Einstein proposed it had nothing to do with the speed of light…”
While other physicists were trying to solve the “problem” of waves and particles, Einstein declared that they were the same thing; problem solved. While other physicists attempted to figure out the “problem” of why the speed of light appeared relative, Einstein proposed it had nothing to do with the speed of light; Time and Space were the relative factors. Problem solved. This pattern of thinking continues with his most famous equation comparing the nature of physicality (mass) with pure energy (light) and concluding that much like waves, particles, time, and space, the physical and the non-physical had more in common than expected.
“The reason that this simple equation is so revolutionary is because it essentially states that physicality is the same thing as non-physicality…”
Let’s begin by considering what the equation actually says. “E” stands for “energy.” “m” stands for “mass,” or matter. “c2” stands for “the speed of light squared.” Therefore, E=mc2 literally states that Energy is equal to, or the same as, mass, or matter, times the speed of light squared. The reason that this simple equation is so revolutionary is because it essentially states that physicality (mass, matter) is the same thing as non-physicality (light, energy); the only thing separating them is their speed:
It followed from the special theory of relativity that mass and energy are both but different manifestations of the same thing – a somewhat unfamiliar conception for the average mind. Furthermore, the equation E is equal to m c-squared, in which energy is put equal to mass, multiplied by the square of the velocity of light, showed that very small amounts of mass may be converted into a very large amount of energy and vice versa. The mass and energy were in fact equivalent, according to the formula mentioned above. This was demonstrated by Cockcroft and Walton in 1932, experimentally.
– Albert Einstein (Explaining His Famous Equation)
Now that we have a better idea of what the equation says, it is time to move into the more interesting question regarding what the equation actually means. First, this equation is about the nature of energy and matter. The underlying assumption of this simple equation is that nothing is actually created or destroyed, they can shift from one form of energy to another, even transforming from matter into light, but the total amount of energy doesn’t change, only the form, or forms, of its manifestation.
At one level, the equation is devastatingly simple. It says that the energy (E) in a system (an atom, a person, the solar system) is equal to its total mass (m) multiplied by the square of the speed of light (c, equal to 186,000 miles per second). Like all good equations, though, its simplicity is a rabbit-hole into something profound about nature: energy and mass are not just mathematically related, they are different ways to measure the same thing. Before Einstein, scientists defined energy as the stuff that allows objects and fields to interact or move in some way – kinetic energy is associated with movement, thermal energy involves heating and electromagnetic fields contain energy that is transmitted as waves. All these types of energy can be transformed from one to another, but nothing can ever be created or destroyed.
Alok Jha - A Short History of Equations: Albert Einstein
In the Special Theory of Relativity, Einstein considers mass, matter, or “physicality” to be just another manifestation of energy; not separate from it. Kinetic energy is associated with movement, Thermal energy is manifested in the form of heat, Electromagnetic fields and Light express energy in the form of waves, and Physicality in the form of mass, or matter; all representing a different form of the same energy. Prior to Einstein, mass was related to how much “stuff” was present and how resistant it was to being moved. After Einstein, mass represented a way to measure the total amount of energy, and potential energy, in an object.
Mass is just a super-concentrated form of energy and, moreover, these things can turn from one form to the other and back again. Nuclear power stations exploit this idea inside their reactors where subatomic particles, called neutrons, are fired at the nuclei of uranium atoms, which causes the uranium to split into smaller atoms. The process of fission releases energy and further neutrons that can go on to split more uranium atoms. If you made very precise measurements of all the particles before and after the process, you would find that the total mass of the latter was very slightly smaller than the former, a difference known as the "mass defect". That missing matter has been converted to energy and you can calculate how much using Einstein's equation.
Alok Jha - A Short History of Equations: Albert Einstein
POSTSCRIPT
Just as Descartes represented a turning point in scientific and religious thinking that resulted in a completely “new modern” world, particularly connected to science, medicine, and technology; Einstein represents a turning point in “all thinking” related to “all certainties” about the nature of Reality. Einstein’s influence on how we now think of Reality cannot be underestimated. Beginning with Einstein, science, religion, and all human beings, had to re-consider the nature of the empirical Universe, and How It Worked.
Next week we will complete our consideration of Einstein’s most famous equation…
Expand the Conversation by Upgrading to “Reality by a Thread!”
Excerpt from Tomorrow’s Untangling the Knots of Reality – Podcast #29: "Connecting the Dots of Our Current Dilemma"
This Week on “The Thread”:
•Untangling the Knots of Reality: #29 "Connecting the Dots of Our Current Dilemma" (“Since Descartes, Religion has represented the expression of rational reality and Science has represented the expression of empirical reality. However, with science becoming another rational expression of reality, through theories such as String Theory, we have begun to lose our natural connection to the empirical world. How, and why, did this happen?…” )
•Reality by a Thread (Discussion Thread): Summary of Books I-IV “Through the Western power of Rome, a new “Christian theology” based on “empirical-rationalism” was blended into the Greek concept of Reality becoming the first “rational” institutionalized religion. Western Science and Western Religion share the same metaphysical roots; however, Descartes severs the “common roots” of Science and Religion creating a new modern dichotomy, or dualism, we know as Science and Religion...”)
•FREE PDF Download of Book IV: “The Cosmic Symphony – Overtones of String Theory” plus other discounts and benefits.
UPGRADE NOW!
New & Now Available! – CLICK IMAGE to learn more
