The Stars Above
To those of you who have found this blog through a search engine, allow me to get the following names out of the way: Paris Hilton, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Alba, Emma Watson. If you are looking for these people, I apologize for bringing you here under false pretenses but let me assure you that this won’t be a waste of time. The thing is that I happen to think that what I’ve been writing about on my blog is a lot more important and interesting than a lot of the other crap out there which people are obsessed with. So, allow me to expose you to something new.
We all too often shelter ourselves with familiar ideas and experiences at the expense of learning about something different. The so-called information superhighway has gradually become, through our compartmentalized tastes, the information cul-de-sac. So, in the hopes of clarifying something extraordinary powerful, misunderstood, and greatly lacking public discussion, I present the topic at hand: E = mc².
I decided to write about this topic last week, after I read the book The Tao of Physics. In it the author presents the tenants of Eastern religion through the context of relativistic and quantum physics. The premise sounded pretty interesting to me, but I felt a little disappointed after reading it. With such a revolutionary topic, I expected more. The book did though revive a dormant interest in physics.
Ever since Stephen Hawking taught me about the Big Bang and black holes in A Brief History of Time, I have been curious about modern physics. The book outlined the current (as of 25 years ago) state of modern physics, the basic goal of which being the Theory of Everything – the two contradictory theories of relativity and quantum physics neatly wrapped up with a bow. Following this book, I discovered the author Brian Greene. In The Elegant Universe, Greene updates the status of modern physics and advocates String theory as being a potential candidate for the universal theory. This book really enthralled me. In it, Greene gives a thorough explanation of the theory of relativity, quantum physics, and string theory. As to quantum physics and string theory, I know enough to realize that I know very little. But Greene’s description of the theory of relativity truly opened my eyes to a world which seemed so bizarre and foreign, but yet shockingly so real and immediate. This world, as Greene explained, comes from that genius of the 20th century: Albert Einstein.
Besides the poofy hair, Albert Einstein’s most recognized attribution is E = mc². We all know it. It’s a common expression denoting genius and scientific achievement. Some of us may even know what it stands for. But how many know what it means, why it’s so important — not many. And given it’s importance describing the world we live in, this is pretty sad.
E = mc² stands for energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. The equation comes from Einstein’s theory of relativity, considered the greatest advance in science ever. It thoroughly smashed all previous conceptions of the universe which Isaac Newton had so gracefully assembled.
Newton believed what most of us still believe in: a static universe – a universe in which space and time are separate, immovable entities, which are only the hosts of matter and energy not participants. A universe with definitive locations and moments. A universe which is ultimately fictional. Yes, that’s right the world that we are so used to really doesn’t exist. Instead, we live in relativistic universe, where one objects’ location and time can only be determined relative to another’s. A universe where space and time are actually two aspects of the same entity space-time, which can be warped and torn. A universe where something that occurs on one planet may feel like only a couple seconds but for another planet may feel like thousands of years. Welcome to the real universe.
I can remember learning about relativistic physics from a high school English teacher. I really don’t think he quite understood it, but the story he told was pretty interesting. The story was about a reporter who asked Einstein to explain the theory of relativity. Einstein replied with a question, ‘How long would it feel like if for a whole hour you had to put your hand on a red-hot stove.’ The reporter replied, ‘A long time.’ Einstein then asked, ‘How long would it feel like if you were talking with a beautiful woman for an hour.’ The reported answered, ‘It would feel like a couple seconds.’ Einstein said, ‘There you are. That’s the theory of relativity.’ It’s a cute story, but I really doubt the reporter understood the theory of relativity by it. However, the basic idea is there: the experience of time is relative, measures of which are ultimately subjective to the object and have no objective reality of themselves. But what does this mean and why is it so mind-blowing? — Here’s an example.
Relativity comes from one object in relation to another or more importantly one’s speed of motion relative to another’s. Let’s say a rock leaving Earth, is flying through space at an extremely high speed . Let’s say on the rock there are two little bugs who are having a fight about who should win American Idol. Now, their conversation seems to last only 5 minutes, at which point they decide to go back to Earth and just find out who’s going to be voted off. To there surprise though, Earth is inhabited by futuristic robots. They ask one of these robots who won American Idol. The robot replies that American Idol has been off the air for 2 million years, but he surprisingly knows the answer: Sanjaya – the bugs then die in shock (joke). This isn’t just science fantasy, this is reality. How you ask?
Well, the faster an object approaches the speed of light the faster it experiences time. Those 5 minutes of arguing about American Idol were from the relative perspective of Earth, millions of years. Thus the potentially accurate premise to Planet of the Apes. Well, why does one’s motion affect time?
It’s quite simple and yet so profound. Remember there is no separate space and time, only space-time. Every object within the space-time continuum is actually going the speed of light, only some of it’s motion is displaced as its speed of motion and the rest is experienced as time. Thus if an object approaches the speed of light it is actually taking most of it’s light-speed motion and displacing it as motion in space, while only a fraction is displaced as time and thus it experiences the long eons of stationary objects as quick moments. This means that for us Earthlings, our speed of light motion is so fractionally displaced as motion in space (because we aren’t moving all that fast) that we experience our motion mostly as motion through time. But for light, ALL of it’s speed of light motion is displaced as motion through space and experiences NO time, thus light from the beginning of the universe 12 billion years ago has not experienced one second of time and exists through an eternal moment!!!!!
Now, this is where it gets crazy. The rule is that an object can never go the speed of light. Why? Well, to go the speed of light an object requires more and more energy. This in turn makes the object heavier and thus requires even more energy to approach the speed of light. So, what happens with all this energy as it approaches the speed of light? – It becomes converted into mass. Yes that’s right, the closer an object approaches the speed of light the more it’s energy is converted into mass. Thus the equation E = mc², energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. This is mind-blowing. To think that inherent in the universe, light has such a fundamental role. It is the eternal constant which both determines the experience of time and also the conversion of energy to matter. How phenomenal!
Alright, that’s about as far as I want to take this. My goal here was not to give a complete overview of the theory of relativity, which has many more facets and other fascinating details. My goal was simple: to promote a level of curiosity about our universe and it’s amazing inner-workings. To think that we live during such an important time of discovery is unbelievable. But we’ll never get a sense of these achievements until we take a break from adoring the stars of earth and take a peek at the stares above.
Ode to Tony
I remember watching a press conference between George W. Bush and Tony Blair a couple months into Bush’s first term. It was the first meeting between the two heads of state and the media made it a test for the incoming president. Questions and speculation were abound with people wondering if Bush could live up to Clinton’s relationship with the U.K and Tony Blair. It was early 2001 and concerns over policy matters were minor. As the press conference proceeded with it’s usual diplomatic schmoozing, a reporter asked Bush if he had discovered any similarities between the two leaders. To the best of my recollection Bush answered something like ‘Ya, we both have the same toothpaste: Colgate.’ The only person who seemed not to feel the embarrassment of such a response was the one who uttered it. A quick look at Blair revealed a real unease about the whole thing. ‘Get me out of here, bring back Clinton,’ he must have thought. The whole exchange was really awkward and led many to question the incoming president’s ability to forge a serious relationship with that darling of the U.S. press, Tony Blair.
Flash to last week.
The reviled poodle with his tail between his legs gets the not-so-polite kick to the curb out onto Downing St. After 10 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair stepped down, leaving Her Majesty’s government in the hands of Gordon Brown. There was little celebration, appreciation, or attention to matter. It was an altogether sober affair. With a stiff upper lip, Britain moved on to the next guy.
There are many reasons why people don’t like Blair. Conservatives in Britain always distrusted his New Labour movement, just as the right in the U.S. distrusted Clinton’s push to the center. He also was accused of a lot of doublespeak and rhetorical fluff ,without any real substance behind it. But by far the main reason is the obvious: Iraq. Put aside all the improvements to the U.K’s economy, healthcare, and school system. Put aside the monumental shift to the center in British politics. Put aside the success in the Northern Ireland peace process. Iraq nullifies it all. The decision to join the US led Coalition of the Willing and invade Iraq will forever remain Tony Blair’s defining legacy. But as the debate unfolds with this controversial decision, one thing is sure: any initial apprehensions coming from that first press conference were thoroughly wrong, the Colgate leaders did indeed forge a serious relationship.
It’ll be many years before the decision to invade Iraq can be fully understood — the underlying reasons, the precipitating events. Some will say it was a neo-conservative conspiracy, it was Halliburton, it was for the oil. Others will contend that the cowboy was trying to do what pops couldn‘t. Some will say it was for Israel. But what all these theories seem to lack is an understanding of where and how the decision was made, and by whom. Corporations don’t go to war. Nations don’t go to war. Individuals go to war, and individuals make the decision to do so. And any serious student of history must recognize where the decision comes from — the views and beliefs behind it, the vision and goals of it, the context. And to the extent that the decision in question is deduced to a single person and a multitude of surreptitious reasons, the Iraq war will continue to be misunderstood and cynicism will continue to pervade the course of events to come. For all likelihood the decision did not come through committee nor solitude, but partnership. In all likelihood the decision to invade was one made by individuals who recognized the necessity of intervention, who accepted that the status quo was no longer tenable, who understood the monumental changes to come.
At the core of this decision was an inherent understanding of the conditions which have given rise to random slaughter of innocents (which have been generically labeled terrorism), an understanding that these same conditions also necessitated the militarization of economy and society , and an understanding that the nexus of the two would mean global devastation and deprivation. And so the decision was made to remove these conditions, and by doing so remove any of the last superficial cultural, political, and religious barriers which divide the world into perpetually conflicting clans. It was a fateful decision and most seem all to ready to dismiss it. But the reality is that it happened and we can’t go back. And to those who say the genie was let out of the bottle, I ask you to consider how long the genie was going to stay in there anyways, and what a policy would look like which attempted to keep it in there. The fact is that Bush and Blair recognized how revolutionary their decision was, for Iraq and beyond. And yet they knew that to shy away from it would put the onus on a future generation which might not have the advantages of the current. And so as all great leaders find their purpose in committing their nations to making a fateful step to a better future, George W. Bush and Tony Blair took solace in the fact the decision was self-evident. They turned to each other and saw someone else who believed too.
Today we are witnessing (and participating in) the shrinking away of the task which these men have set out. We have turned away from the idealism which we felt following that horrific day in September. We are turning to those who promise an easy way out. And as it becomes clear that this impulse for an “exit strategy” will not work, we will recall the talk of democracy and freedom, of pluralism and liberation, and we will laugh and then scoff. We will see all the problems of the world coming from such idealism and beliefs, and we will view those who uttered them with pure contempt. Until one day we will see what they saw. We will feel what they felt. We will turn to each other and see someone else who believes and we will fight. But as of last week we have just begun to live in the shadow of one of these men. We have a long way to go before we can truly appreciate what he did and truly be inspired by his leadership. Tony, you will be missed. Thank you and farewell.
Tony Blair — poodle my ass.
