Sunday, March 11, 2018

CONVERSATIONS Part 5




 The Large Hadron Collider

CONVERSATION WITH AN ATHEIST AGNOSTIC PART 5
(For Part 1 through 4, Scroll down or type CONVERSATION WITH AN ATHEIST in the Search Box.)

CONVERSATIONS
©Edward R. Close 2018 

We met again at our favorite Starbuck’s:

“I’ve been thinking,” My friend began, “maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m not going to call myself an atheist any more. Maybe agnostic describes my position better.”

What made you change your mind? I wondered.

“I think it was the negativity. When I looked at my friends and colleagues who claim to be atheists, and analyzed that approach, and especially when I looked at myself, I realized that proclaiming that one is an ‘atheist’ is a matter of reacting to something we don’t like, something that we see as delusional wishful thinking. Trying to convince believers that they’re wrong, trying to destroy their fantasy, is a very negative thing. I’ve decided that you are right, they have just as much right to believe whatever they want to as I do. If it makes them feel better, or makes them better able to cope with life, who am I that I should deprive them of that?

“I still believe that I’m right that there is no god, no all-powerful entity watching over us, but, all I can say, from a logical standpoint, is that I see no evidence for that sort of superstitious, anachronistic belief. I guess that makes me an agnostic, not an atheist.”

I agree. I think most people who declare that they are atheists do so either to conform with their peer group, or as a form of protest. In either case, they may not distinguish between atheism and agnosticism. I’m glad we agree about something!

“Yes, but we don’t agree about this ‘something’ you call gimmel. I just don’t see how something that’s needed to make subatomic particles stable can have anything to do with consciousness. So far, I don’t think your arguments for that are very convincing. I think that, just like dark matter, it has to be some form of matter”

Let’s see if I can understand why you don’t believe gimmel is consciousness. What do you mean when you say “consciousness”? What is your definition of consciousness?

“Consciousness is the state of being aware. It is the subjective experience of being a sentient human being.”

Are you saying that only human beings are conscious?

“No, I suppose animals have some level of consciousness; they are aware of their surroundings. They’re just not self-aware.”

Don’t you think a dog is self-aware when you call his name and he knows it is him and not a cat or another dog you are calling?

“That’s just conditioned response.”

How is it different from your being conditioned to respond to your name as a small child?

“OK, maybe some animals are self-aware, but, they have a less-developed form of consciousness than human beings.”  

Do you think consciousness depends on our physical senses?


"Sure! How else can we be aware?"


But, dogs have a much more developed sense of smell, and cats have a much more developed sense of sight,... does that mean that their consciousness is more developed than ours, at least in one or more of the senses?


"Oh, I see where you're going with this: Consciousness is not just the senses, right?"


Right! Do you think consciousness is just different levels of one thing, or are there various kinds of consciousness?

“I would say that because we seem to relate to each other through awareness by means of our physical senses, seeing, hearing, etc., and animals like dogs do too, it’s just different levels of one thing: ‘awareness’.”

OK, then, how are we aware of matter and energy?

“By feeling and seeing them as something apart, as solid material. having weight and  taking up space, in the case of matter, and pressure or force in the case of energy.”

Ok, would you agree that these are distinctions, perceived as distinct from us as conscious observers, and distinct from each other?”

“Yes, I think that’s right.”

And, how do be demonstrate that an object is real?

“By measuring it, determining its weight and volume and plotting its path through space.”

Over time?

“Yes, over time.”

What are the parameters that we can measure?

“We can measure their Mass, energy and volume, and we can determine how they change over time.”

Perfect! You’ve just described the classical science of physics in a nutshell! Physical objects are described by only four measurable variables: mass, energy, space, and time. And, the basic relationship between them is described by the equation made famous by Einstein: E = mc2. This simple little equation expresses the relationship between all four variables: E is energy, m is mass, and c is the distance light travels (space) in one unit of time.

“I hadn’t quite thought of it that way, but, yeah, that’s right.”

So, if physical reality is made up of particles and waves interacting in space and time, how is a particle identified, say in the Large Hadron collider?

“By its mass and energy.”

That’s right; and if we normalize the speed of light, as is done in Planck units and in Triadic Rotational Units of Equivalence, our quantum equivalence units in the calculus of distinctions, then the c is defined as the movement of light through one unit of space in one unit of time, and Einstein’s equation becomes E = m(1/1)2 = m, showing that mass and energy are equivalent.

“OK. That’s cool!”

Now, in particle physics, where relativity and quantum physics meet, mass and energy are identified as, and measured in, the mass-energy equivalence units of mega electron volts (Mev). Mega, of course means million. One unit of mass is equivalent to one million electron volts of energy in this system of measurement.

“Yeah, that’s pretty basic particle-physics stuff,”

Given that, how do we identify a specific particle. Like a quark, proton, neutron, boson, etc., in the LHC?

“By their mass in Mev!”

Yes. Exactly right! Now, remember the derivation of gimmel, the extra something that stabilizes the proton. Do you remember why gimmel cannot be matter or energy?

“No.”

It’s because if the units of gimmel needed to establish symmetric stability were mass or energy, it would change the measurement of the mass-energy of the proton, and it would not be a proton, it would be identified as some other particle.

“OK, that makes sense.”

Now, if something identified as a necessary part of every atom for stability is neither matter nor energy, what is it?

“I don’t know. How can consciousness be something, but not be matter or energy? It’s a puzzle. I need to think about it.”

OK, while you’re thinking about that, consider the fact that when the amount of gimmel in the elements are calculated, and the apparent percentages of each element in the universe are taken into account, the percentage of gimmel is almost exactly the same as the volumetric equivalence of dark matter and dark energy in the universe based on the Hubble Probe data!

“Really? That’s kinda mind boggling! There must be some kind of explanation other than consciousness! I need some time to think about this.”

With that, he frowned, grabbed his latte, and walked out of the Starbuck’s.


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