Full Version: 3? elements for a universe
I've heard many people say that the universe is made up of matter and energy. The idea being that these 2 things are the only elements needed, or at least that is one valid duality with which to look at the universe. And it seems quite enlightened, because it regards the tangible - matter - as well as the intangible - energy. But really, energy becomes quite tangible in its immediate effects, like flame, or motion, or such, especially in light of a third element that I think is often overlooked, and is even less tangible: information.
I'm not talking about stray television shows from the fifties that will be the first things to reach Alpha Centauri and enlighten the residents about humanity, if there are any residents. I'm not talking about phone calls or emails or come hither looks, or any of the forms of communication, of information, that are transmitted here on earth between 2 life forms.
I am instead talking about rules. They sound kind of like a monologue because they're really not negotiating or communicating, they're more predestined and secure. They are all the natural laws like gravity and inertia, and mathematical laws like that it takes 4 planes to enclose a piece of space. Our young science can now and then find some "exception" to a law, but then, when we look a little deeper, we find that the exception, just like the original law, was there all along, being a law too, just at a quieter level. Natural laws could be seen as rows of volumes of legal precedents on a shelf on an office wall, except that noone has to tell them or listen to them or enforce them for the universe to run, and to do so predictably.
Where emails, books, songs, or run-on sentences with every third word being "like" is how we humans use information, likewise natural laws that just sit there being about stuff may be how God, if you like, uses information. And, y'know, talk about not being tangible. The universe just plain RUNS without the laws actually being in an office or being a piece of platinum a standard meter long. What makes them so real is their consistency. Even though, whenever we think we can put together a scale model of the universe, or of a part of it, it's just like assembling a bike and having an extra bolt left over. It's just a little beyond us what the bolt means.
I'm not talking about stray television shows from the fifties that will be the first things to reach Alpha Centauri and enlighten the residents about humanity, if there are any residents. I'm not talking about phone calls or emails or come hither looks, or any of the forms of communication, of information, that are transmitted here on earth between 2 life forms.
I am instead talking about rules. They sound kind of like a monologue because they're really not negotiating or communicating, they're more predestined and secure. They are all the natural laws like gravity and inertia, and mathematical laws like that it takes 4 planes to enclose a piece of space. Our young science can now and then find some "exception" to a law, but then, when we look a little deeper, we find that the exception, just like the original law, was there all along, being a law too, just at a quieter level. Natural laws could be seen as rows of volumes of legal precedents on a shelf on an office wall, except that noone has to tell them or listen to them or enforce them for the universe to run, and to do so predictably.
Where emails, books, songs, or run-on sentences with every third word being "like" is how we humans use information, likewise natural laws that just sit there being about stuff may be how God, if you like, uses information. And, y'know, talk about not being tangible. The universe just plain RUNS without the laws actually being in an office or being a piece of platinum a standard meter long. What makes them so real is their consistency. Even though, whenever we think we can put together a scale model of the universe, or of a part of it, it's just like assembling a bike and having an extra bolt left over. It's just a little beyond us what the bolt means.
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Topic closed...</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Reason: Question to debate too vague or missing.<br /><br />Recommended action: If you started this topic, please contact the staff member who closed it by clicking the PM button below this post with a clear question to debate.<br /><br />Helpful links:<br />- Starting New Topics<br />- Survival Guide<br />- The Rules<br />- Staff Directory</td></tr><tr><td class='darkrow1'><div align='center'>Note: This is an automated response.</div></td></tr></table></div>
Topic closed...</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Reason: Question to debate too vague or missing.<br /><br />Recommended action: If you started this topic, please contact the staff member who closed it by clicking the PM button below this post with a clear question to debate.<br /><br />Helpful links:<br />- Starting New Topics<br />- Survival Guide<br />- The Rules<br />- Staff Directory</td></tr><tr><td class='darkrow1'><div align='center'>Note: This is an automated response.</div></td></tr></table></div>
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