How Things Work: A Brief History of Reality
BOOK II: The Power of Three – #72. "Back Holes"
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Tuesday, February 28, 2023
“But Einstein came along and took space and time out of the realm of stationary things and put them in the realm of relativity—giving the onlooker dominion over time and space, because time and space are modes by which we think and not conditions in which we live.”
― Dimitri Marianoff (Einstein: An Intimate Study of a Great Man)
PREFACE
Welcome Everybody!
The prediction of a phenomenon called a Black Hole based on Einstein’s Special and General theories of Relativity was so counterintuitive to our understanding of how the universe worked that even Einstein did not believe it. Einstein’s universe was a very strange and very weird reality. Time and space were basically illusions, warped and contoured by another illusion called gravity, suggesting strange new possibilities such as time dilation, length contraction, and black holes.
All now confirmed by modern science.
CONSIDERATION #72 – Black Holes
The black hole “teaches us that space can be crumpled like a piece of paper into an infinitesimal dot, that time can be extinguished like a blown-out flame, and that the laws of physics that we regard as ‘sacred,’ as immutable, are anything but…”
– John Wheeler (Autobiography –1999)
Imagine a theoretical point of infinite density located in space-time called a singularity. What would an object with that much mass (infinite density) do to the fabric of space-time? A physicist named Karl Schwarzschild used Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity to describe such a hypothetical situation.
“At a certain threshold, Schwarzschild found that the hypothetical singularity would literally punch through space-time. In mathematics, singularities are interesting numerical solutions, but astrophysical singularities were, at the time, thought to be an abomination— there was no known mechanism that could produce them.”
– Ian O’Neill (Black Holes Were Such an Extreme Concept, Even Einstein Had His Doubts)
The mechanism Schwarzschild was looking for was gravity. Einstein’s gravity, not Newton’s. The General Theory of Relativity completed the Special Theory of Relativity supporting the prediction of what we now call “Black Holes.” The prediction of this possibility was so extreme, that even Einstein did not believe it could actually be “real.”
“The concept that explains black holes was so radical, in fact, that Einstein, himself, had strong misgivings. He concluded in a 1939 paper in the Annals of Mathematics that the idea was “not convincing” and the phenomena did not exist “in the real world.”
– Ian O’Neill (Black Holes Were Such an Extreme Concept, Even Einstein Had His Doubts)
In 1935, astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, hypothesized that if a massive star ran out of fuel that the sheer gravitational pressure of its mass could be concentrated into a single point, a singularity, that would cause space-time to actually collapse in on itself. The singularity would warp space-time so drastically that even light would not be fast enough to escape from it, which is why the term “black hole” has been used to describe the phenomenon. At the point of no return, called the “event horizon,” the gravitational forces are so strong that even the known laws of physics would break down, including time.
In 2019, a global network of telescopes obtained visual confirmation of a massive black hole and its event horizon at the center of galaxy M87. It is now believed that supermassive black holes exist at the center of all galaxies.
POSTSCRIPT
Like many “modern” concepts, we have become accustomed to “the idea” of a black hole without understanding what it really is or what it really means. The empirical consequences resulting from such an “idea” are, in fact, beyond most people’s comprehension in any meaningful way. We simply accept the “idea” of black holes because we’ve been told that that they are real and exist. However, if you stop and truly think about the concept of a black hole and what it really means; it can change your perception of reality in a profound way.
“…Black Holes represent the opposite process of the ‘Big Bang.’”
For example, from a logical perspective, Black Holes represent the opposite process of the “Big Bang.” In the Big Bang energy is “created” and generated throughout the universe, manifesting physical reality; simultaneously bringing all the “laws of physics” into existence. Black Holes “absorb,” or “destroy,” energy, such as light, and at the “event horizon” all the “laws of physics” once again break down and disappear from the universe. This duality, like all dualities, exemplifies the nature of empirical, or physical, reality.
Some books and films that help untangle the depth of Einstein’s theories related to time, space, gravity, and black holes, include A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking; The God Equation, by Michio Kaku; The End of Everything, by Katie Mack; Christopher Nolan’s films Interstellar and Inception; and the Netflix documentary The Edge of All We Know.
Next week we will consider another prediction related to the “Big Bang” Theory; Gravitational Waves…
Expand the Conversation by Upgrading to “Reality by a Thread!”
Excerpt from Tomorrow’s Untangling the Knots of Reality – Podcast #37: "Untangling Rousseau and the Social Contract"
This Week on “The Thread”:
•Untangling the Knots of Reality Podcast: #37 "Untangling Rousseau and the Social Contract " (“Although a believer in individual liberty and a rabid abolitionist, Rousseau still argued that individuals should give up some of their autonomy for the overall good of the community. However, autonomy was not given to a monarch or state, but to the “General Will” represented by the elite of society. Theoretically, in an enlightened society, it made “sense” that the “best” of that society should make the decisions over social moral issues such as wealth. Rousseau sought to create a perfect society based on perfect people consistently using perfect reason. However, this is not a reflection of any known reality, then, or now.…” )
•Reality by a Thread Discussion Thread: Previewing Book V Excerpt – Self Consciousness and Awareness – Life (“Therefore, the universe may have been brought into existence through a Level One Consciousness and Awareness, and function through a Level Two Consciousness and Awareness, but it is Only EXPERIENCED at a Level Three Conscious Awareness. Without this level of Conscious Awareness, the universe would, and could, never “know” itself. Like the traditional rational arguments related to the existence of God; its existence would essentially be meaningless...”)
•FREE PDF Download of Book IV: “The Cosmic Symphony – Overtones of String Theory” plus other Free Books, Discounts and Benefits.
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Book III – The Enigmatic Mystery
"Transcending the Duality of Science & Religion"
We are now beginning to understand that opposites, like waves and particles, are essentially two ways of looking at the same thing. That “thing” is the mystery.
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth… And God said, ‘Let there be light’: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good… And the evening and the morning were the first day.”
– The Bible (Genesis 1)
“Once, there was an infinite entity called “The Singularity.” It had always existed and always was. Being beyond the foundation of time and space, It held within Itself the potential for all physical and nonphysical reality. The imperceptible seed of the entire universe; waiting to explode into actuality. Suddenly, without warning, It releases Itself into the cosmos, forever expanding and permeating all Creation. In an instantaneous spark of Divine Will all that is, was.
And the Big Bang was the first day.”
The Enigmatic Mystery: Transcending the Duality of Science & Religion (Chapter 1)
It is time to stop arguing about how to solve the mystery and enthusiastically embrace the opportunity to transcend it.
• What is the distinction between Knowledge, Understanding, and Meaning?
• What is the Scientific Explanation for Reality?
• What is the Theological Explanation for Reality?
• What are the current Unexplained Mysteries of Science?
• What are the Metaphysical Foundations of the Holy Trinity?
• What is the Atomic Trilogy?
• Is the Bible Fiction or Non-fiction?
• What exactly is the Big Bang?
• What are Theoretical Entities?
• Is there a distinction between God and Electrons?
• Is it possible to Transcend Dualism?