Original: February 12, 2001
I know that I have mentioned it before but the following questions are really blowing my mind. It seems as if Einstein (Mr. One Mug) was always sorry that he couldn’t mathematically explain what he termed LAMBDA – a force that is sort of like a FORCE CONSTANT that is pulling objects apart in space.
He could never understand how a BIG BANG was powerful enough to throw matter apart (things like stars and galaxies) with such a force that it will continue expanding forever. He thought it possible that the universe someday (a gazillion years in the future) would fall back in on itself, like a big rubber band was pulling on everything, and it would collapse in a BIG KAVOT due to gravity tugging at all worlds within it. Unfortunately, modern astrophysics (indeed not so modern) can’t explain how just the opposite is happening. Edwin Hubble tried to define this “constant” with what has come to be known as the ‘Hubble Constant’. But, using modern equipment to look at far distant objects – like supernovas – scientists have come to believe that the universe is actually expanding at an ever-increasing speed. No one knows why this is happening and unless some unknown force (and a huge force it must be) is discovered, scientists are hard pressed to explain this strange happening.
I’ve read about various theories that try to explain so-called DARK MATTER and maybe it is this ‘force’ that is causing the universe to expand – faster and faster. You see – if we were to describe this observed effect using the BIG BANG theory it would seem most probable that the universe would be slowing down in its expansion. But, that’s not what is happening. Apparently, it’s speeding up. If that isn’t weird enough, it is speeding up ever faster and faster. No one yet knows how long the cosmos might exist. Since objects in space are receding from one another ever faster, it is likely that the cosmos might end itself almost anytime – either that or it will continue expanding forever. Ever since man has looked at the stars, they seem to remain in just about their same position – only moving in their orbits – not moving away from us or even toward us. Oops! It seems that this is no longer the case. With better instruments and more accurate observations of very, very distant objects, scientists have discovered that everything in the cosmos is actually receding from us at even faster rates then it did yesterday or the day before. Of course, it must also be that our own galaxy is also receding away from other galaxies at these same faster and faster rates. No one has been able to explain this and no one really knows how much faster things are getting. It is currently being studied and measured. I’ve read some reports that suggest that the speed is exponentially increasing – that is – the faster it goes one moment the faster it goes the next – sort of doubling its speed with every MPH of the speedometer. It would be like getting in your car and pushing the accelerator and instead of gradually going faster and faster, each mile per hour would increase to two and then four and then eight and then sixteen, ad nauseous. In other words, the universe seems to be exponentially increasing its speed. Considering how humongous the cosmos is, those speeds must be reaching some incredible rates by now – maybe even faster than the speed of light. And, that brings me to one of my stupid questions. If our observations are calculated using the speed of light as a reference, then it just could be that what we are witnessing is not what we think it is. Maybe, our calculations are all wrong – or at least partly wrong. I’ve often quipped that our understanding of TIME may be wrong.
There has been a persistent ringing in my ears that our observations (on earth) are skewed by our limited field of view. If the universe is expanding at ever increasing rates, it just may be a correct (or partly correct) theory and it might lead to even more profound discoveries. Somehow, I have a feeling that SPEED, TIME, GRAVITY and other cosmological observations are just WRONG. I’m not suggesting that I am RIGHT – far from it. I just have a sneaky feeling that if we ever get a handle on the relationship between these things we might discover an entirely new way of looking at (and defining) them. I’ve used the phrase that our current knowledge of these things will turn into Jell-O Physics if some pertinent discovery is made that allows us to look at these cosmic things in a different way. Isn’t this the case with all of our discoveries?
If you think about it, much of our current knowledge is predicated on what we have learned over the previous centuries. While Edison didn’t have any precursor to the light bulb or the phonograph, he did, nevertheless have the genius of Franklin’s discovery of electricity and the discovery of tungsten and telegraph to fall back on. I’m not so sure that the kinds of discoveries that will be made in the 21st century will have the same kind of foundations on which to build. It just may be that our newest discoveries will come only as a result of our newest technological inventions – such as the Hubble telescope or other esoteric space sciences. Until recently, we haven’t had the tools with which to discover some of the things just now popping into our view. As science unfolds it will begin to confound us more and more. Sort of like this theory of the universe speeding up, it might well be that our knowledge will also be speeding up. I’ve laughed at the weird people who suggest that America’s superb scientific knowledge is the result of reverse-engineering the flying saucer that crashed at Roswell, Mew Mexico in the late 40’s. Somehow, they suggest, that the new stealth jet fighter came about as a result of conferring with little bug-eyed critters that crash-landed on earth. This makes about as much sense as believing that these same goobers taught the Peruvian people how to draw huge cartoons in the dirt. I can’t imagine why the early Peruvian people weren’t taught how to make radios or televisions or how to transplant hearts or even travel fast enough to get there from here. Bug-eyed UFO goobers aren’t very willing to share meaningful information with earthlings.
What I’ve come to believe (think) is that the speed of light is just one of many cosmological speeds. It may be the fastest but I’m sure not convinced of it. There may be many faster speeds to be discovered. Obviously it isn’t the slowest, as you can tell if you’ve ever watched me walk these days. Considering the newest observations of particle physicists, I’m not even sure that gravity is one of the strongest forces in nature. They have recently discovered that as particles get farther away from each other the stronger they pull on each other. This just might be what is being observed when they talk of a faster receding cosmos. Maybe the farther away galaxies get from one another the faster they move but perhaps the forces that hold them together also get stronger and the elastic is about to reach its end of limit. Maybe, this is what will cause the cosmos to collapse on itself – not gravity – but the FORCES OF DISTANCE or whatever the brainiacs call it seems to really exist. I sort of envision gravity (like the speed of light) as being only relevant to the observer. Like Mr. One Mug said, most everything is only RELEVANT to the observer. Maybe it isn’t relevant if you are somewhere else observing it – like on the faraway star of CEREOUS NAUSEOUS. If you were a Cereous Nausean and looked back at earth with your hand-held, mega-telescope, you might see little manmade satellites scurrying around earth and to you, the speed might seem like 10 MPH or something. In fact, to us they are moving at about 18,000-24,000 mph because we are so close to them. But, because the Cereous Nausean is so far away and receding away from us at ever-faster rates, the satellites might look as if they are hardly moving at all. I know that all of this reads like more of my drivel and it probably is. But, as I understand it, these kinds of questions really abound and as of yet no one on earth can really explain them. That’s why I am delighted that science is finally getting to know about such weird stuff – once and for all. It’s like I have waited all of my life for such profound discoveries to be made. And, as luck would have it, I’ll probably croak before I get to witness them being used by mankind.
Let’s suppose that there really is something like the FORMULA OF FORCES OF DISTANCE. Wouldn’t that help explain why the cosmos is so huge? If it wasn’t, the universe would have long-ago done it’s SPROING and return to it’s roots or blown its stack. In other words, if the cosmos were smaller, this force would have taken hold much earlier and we would no longer exist. I do believe that the math of orbital physics is very well understood and it may indeed hold true for the entire cosmos. However, maybe this math only relates to objects in near proximity to each other. If this math were not ‘exact’ science then the guys who orbited and landed on an asteroid (Near-Shoemaker satellite – I’m writing this as the satellite is in its decent mode) wouldn’t have been able to do it. I might also include the men-on-the-moon, those inside of the space station Alpha and the television satellite that beams you your dose of Reality TV. But, all of these things are available to us in the first place. They’re close to us. Cereous Nauseous isn’t so close. Simply because the moon and asteroid are available to us, orbital physics works. But, maybe the ‘same’ physics probably won’t work on Cereous Nauseous. The mathematical constants that are usually a part of all physical equations just won’t be the same. Maybe the fundamental concept of ORBITS exists all throughout the cosmos. Or maybe, just maybe, the same force that is causing the universe to expand even faster and faster is at work and affects the way we observe extremely distant objects and use these observations to interpret things very close to us (cosmologically speaking). Because of this possibility, I reason, the brainiacs may have made inaccurate calculations about some things – not all things or even a lot of things – but some things. I’m of the opinion that scientists are on the verge of discovering a cosmological constant. This is probably the Holy Grail of astronomy and physics. But, so far, not even Mr. One Mug could figure it out – even though he was certainly aware of the concept. Fortunately, the brainiacs of today are working diligently on the issue. I’m not sure what this new information will really give us. Oh, of course a gazillion questions will instantly be answered and we will certainly gain a basket full of new knowledge. But, I wonder how it will be used to help understand and describe things like dimensions, time, gravity and other nifty things like that.
Perhaps, this CONSTANT is the force of God and will never be understood or known. Perhaps, GRAVITY is only a force of man and only exists where man can wander. I’ve always believed that certain physical laws probably exist in Heaven. Why else would God have created things (physical laws) as they are to be seen by us? I can’t understand why God would want to create something too foreign to Him. If you believe in Biblical scripture you know that MAN was created in God’s own image. If you don’t know, then who knows what you believe, so I don’t care. My religious beliefs might seem strange to you but I’ve always tried to make mental images of what I believe Heaven to be – and my mental images can only make sense to me if I use earthly images to embellish a thought. But really, why in the ‘world’ would God go to the trouble of creating the cosmos in a hugely, very different way from that which He already knows exists. I just don’t think that He did. You, of course, can think anything you wish – including that I’m a nut. Before going off of this subject I want to say that it is my belief that our cosmos is merely a microcosm of what exists in Heaven. Our cosmos might be similar but not identical and we are probably on a par of 10 followed by 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 zeros smaller. I really do believe that many other sciences – which man understands – probably exist throughout the entire cosmos and some similarities of these may also exist in Heaven. But, I won’t go so far as to think that the ‘laws’ all operate exactly the same throughout the entire cosmos. There may be subtleties with grave consequences. Perhaps, the new knowledge that we have of an increasingly expanding universe will be one of the subtleties. I also believe that the brainiacs can explain the sun’s nuclear furnace operations. They may revise some of their formulas as new knowledge is gained, but the fundamental precepts won’t change all that much. They continue to manufacture nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, the weapons are getting increasingly smaller and less complicated. Before long you will be able to order your own nuke at a drive up bomb store. I think it would be WAY KEWEL if we could revise our concepts of TIME and learn how to take total control over friction and gravity. This would surely unleash an unlimited power supply on the order of the earth’s magneto.
I often get amused when I hear people talking about ‘voodoo’ science and am amazed at how deeply they believe in some really outrageous things. The folks who get their jollies talking about numbers and how things fit together to mean something profound seem to forget that any numeric result can be achieved if someone wants to achieve it. If their ‘interpretation’ of what these numeric consequences mean, then it becomes even more stupid. In order to believe this stuff you would necessarily have to know and be assured that the guy rattling off the hyper-visionary goop knew what he was talking about. Simply observing some unusual thing doesn’t mean that it is a voodoo hex with an eerie glow. Our earth is riddled with unmistakable signs that goobers from Mars landed on earth. I mean – who else could have taught the Egyptians how to build a magic pyramid? How did a bunch of Incan’s draw huge cartoons in the desert? Why are there so many UFOs in great works of ancient art? How did America develop stealthy jet fighters?
There are many compelling stories of very unusual things. UFO abductees are absolutely certain to a fault that they were probed and prodded by goobers in the spaceships. The incident is vivid in their minds. For some reason this is a common experience to a lot of people. Since it is, some will believe that it MUST be happening. Other people relate that they are asleep and all of a sudden they see a bright light appear at the foot of their bed and they are paralyzed so that they can’t move or scream. Gazillions of people – probably since man crawled out of the primordial ooze – have similar experiences. I certainly have. The brainiacs call this a common SLEEP paralysis activity. Since so many people report this experience, it must be true that a goober comes into our rooms in the night and freeze us in our tracks – like the goobers don’t have something better to do – like takeover the world or order pizza. In my opinion, these voodoo sciences are no more scientific then a Ojai board, crystal ball or a Lance Burton magic show. I have to admit, my recollection of the paralyzed state is very ‘real’ in my brain. But, everything we perceive is of our brain’s activity so it’s always telling us real things. We don’t have any real way to determine if it really happens or doesn’t. Only observations of people while they are in this state tell us that the experience is only like a dream except that we can’t logically separate it from reality. I just thought of an example of a very strange occurrence – Spontaneous Combustion. Some people chalk this fireball up to ball lightning or anti-matter – take your pick. Fact is, no one can positively explain how people just seem to catch on fire from the inside out and nothing around them catches fire and burns up too. These people are discovered dead and some parts of their bodies are left untouched by the fire and even the place they are found is not harmed by the fire. This is weird stuff, Maynard.
I do, however, believe in the possibility and existence of prophecy – the ability to predict the future. However, I don’t believe that too many people have been worthy enough to inherit the ability. I do not believe that gypsies or holy-roller goobers have the power of prophecy. If you’ve read through my ramblings you might get the opinion that I think of myself as a prophet. That, of course, is absurd. I hardly know what I’m going to do in a minute and then remember what I did ten minutes ago. I couldn’t predict a tuna fish sandwich. But, there have been folks who really seem to predict or tell of future things. A lot of folks think that Nostradamas was the prophet’s prophet. Maybe he was. Maybe he just guessed at so many things that the law of chaos finally caught up and provided a few good ones for us to behold and wonder over. If there is a scientific explanation for such things, I’m convinced that it occurs as the result of some simple, yet indefinable plane of existence. Perhaps, it is the result of molecular changes in the brain. (Please refer to my memory theories to see where I’m coming from here.)
A lot of the things I’ve discussed herein could all be ‘discovered and understood’ in a few years – maybe in nanoseconds. It may be possible that something so profound will soon be discovered that it will provide us with an extreme knowledge of many currently untouchable and even misunderstood sciences. Precept upon precept as is taught in many philosophy and religous courses. Perhaps we will discover how to lift heavy objects with ease – like the Druids and Egyptians and goobers on Easter Island. Maybe scientists will discover a way to utilize the earth’s magneto to provide us with more power than we need. Maybe we can dispense with rockets to put us in orbit. One thing that I sure do hope they figure out is why our universe seems to be expanding exponentially and stretching out faster and faster. It isn’t slowing down like we would expect from the BIG BANG theory of creation. Perhaps instead of starting with a BANG, the universe got started by some force that pulled and tugged it into shape. Maybe the power doesn’t exist in the beginning – it exists at the end – where it’s going – maybe that explains why it’s going faster and faster. Way out at the edge of the cosmos (15 billion light years according to the brainiacs) it is closer to the force that pulls it and tugs at it and things just normally start getting faster. I’ll call my theory the GREAT TAFFY PULL instead of the BIG BANG. I have no idea if anyone else came up with this idea but it makes for great SciFi so I’m sure it is not an original idea. I would be surprised if it is. Anyway, perhaps physicists will discover how it all works. I’m convinced that it is a learnable thing. I just don’t know when it will be discovered. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe 2012. The new space station Alpha is going to help answer a lot of the persisting riddles. In space, physics can explain things that can’t be explained on earth. They can only be theorized and possibly modeled. Now that a permanent laboratory exists in space (and it is upgradeable) mankind might discover things that will lead to who knows where. This is indeed an exciting time to be alive to witness almost unbelievable changes all about us. The ubiquitous cell phone didn’t exist 8 years ago. Now it is a required appliance. I shudder to think about the BC-611 walkie-talkie of World War II and the midget phone that Betty carries these days. If someone had predicted a real transceiver half the size of a cigarette pack that could let a person talk to anyone else anywhere on earth – back in 1945 they would have called them Chester Gould (a.k.a. Dick Tracy) or a nut. It was not a believable scenario at that time. It was unimaginable in real terms. Then, 3 years later the transistor was discovered and then silicon electronics and then teeny little cell phones. As I said, the old adage, precept upon precept makes sense to me. Knowledge begets knowledge. I really have a compelling feeling that something profound will soon be discovered. Its discovery will lead to un-thought of things. We may have every convenience imaginable. When virtual tactile feedback mechanisms are perfected, medicine might be done right in our own homes – even surgery. In 50 years surgeons might be able to replace a broken hip while you remain in your own bedroom. Hospitals will become isolation hospices where virulently sick people will be quarantined and treated.
I just love to do the ‘what-ifs’ in my mind. It is so much fun to let my mind wander into the ozone and think of this stuff. As I’ve often said, “This exercise is for me, my kids and my grandkids.” It doesn’t necessarily have to make perfect sense. It only has to be logical as I see it. It is quite possible that many people will totally or partially disagree with me. But, if I’ve done my homework the logic must also be reasonable to the reader. If not, call me a nut and be done with it. But, I encourage you to think about these same things and see where your mind wanders. It probably wanders on its own roads and not those of a nut. But, either way we get to mentally compose some interesting outcomes and it is fun to do it.
