Doc Dutch (01-16-2022)
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Dark energy might be neither particle nor field
Everything else in the universe is either a particle or field. Dark energy behaves as neither, and it may be a property inherent to space itself.
.. there is no evidence that dark energy is anything other than the most basic entity imaginable: a property that is uniformly inherent to space everywhere and at all times. This can come about in one of two different ways very easily:
The universe can possess a positive, non-zero cosmological constant, a term perfectly allowable in general relativity. It has to be very, very small, but when you put it in everywhere over the whole universe, it eventually comes to dominate.
It could be a quantum property of space: the zero-point energy of all the fields in the vacuum of space is not required to be zero but could take on some positive, non-zero value. What we often interpret as quantum fluctuations, or particle-antiparticle pairs popping in and out of existence, could be the cause behind dark energy.
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/dark-energy/
Doc Dutch (01-16-2022)
Not really a fan of universal physical constants.
They are scientifically unsatisfactory .
We can only know about them from experimental observation. We cannot derive them from first principles, and we cannot find fundamentally understand why they manifest themselves in the cosmos, or why they take on that value and not some other value.
Cypress (01-16-2022)
Not quite following you here.....with the confession that hardcore physics is a barely understandable field for me.
https://www.britannica.com/science/physical-constant
physical constant, any of a set of fundamental invariant quantities observed in nature and appearing in the basic theoretical equations of physics. Accurate evaluation of these constants is essential in order to check the correctness of the theories and to allow useful applications to be made on the basis of those theories.
The speed of light in a vacuum (c) appears in electromagnetic theory and in relativity theory; in the latter it relates energy to mass through the equation E = mc2. Its value does not depend on any particular experimental conditions such as would affect the speed of a sound wave in air (for which air temperature and the direction and speed of any wind would matter). It is a universal constant of nature.
"Hatred is a failure of imagination" - Graham Greene, "The Power and the Glory"
Cypress (01-16-2022)
The normal matter and energy we can see or detect - aka, atoms, photons, radiation and the electromagnetic spectrum - only account for about 5 percent of the universe.
We don't know what the other 95 percent of the universe is, but we know something else is there by indirect evidence.
Doc Dutch (01-16-2022)
Agreed. That part I can understand. Furthermore, based on current evidence, the Universe is not only expanding but due to dark energy the expansion is accelerating thus dampening the Oscillating Universe theory.
https://astronomy.com/news/magazine/...the-big-freeze
FROM THE JANUARY 2021 ISSUE
The Beginning to the End of the Universe: The Big Crunch vs. The Big Freeze
Astronomers once thought the universe could collapse in a Big Crunch. Now most agree it will end with a Big Freeze.
How will the universe end? Humanity has pondered this question for thousands of years. And now science actually has the knowledge and tools to attempt an answer.
Until rather recently, astronomers thought the cosmos would repeatedly expand and collapse in an infinite cycle of cosmic death and rebirth. But the best evidence points to a distant Armageddon filled with more existential dread than the Book of Revelation. Trillions of years in the future, long after Earth is destroyed, the universe will drift apart until galaxy and star formation ceases. Slowly, stars will fizzle out, turning night skies black. All lingering matter will be gobbled up by black holes until there’s nothing left. Finally, the last traces of heat will disappear.
Rather than meeting its end through fire and brimstone, the cosmos will likely succumb to “heat death.” Astronomers call it the Big Freeze.
"Hatred is a failure of imagination" - Graham Greene, "The Power and the Glory"
Basically the universal contants just are what they are...
We cannot derive them from any laws of physics or chemistry
We only know about them from experimental measurement.
It just is what it is.
That is what I mean by scientifically unsatisfactory. We have no deeper understanding of these Universal constants. I guess it ultimately becomes a philosophical question.
But some people wonder when you start having 20 or 25 universal constants holding the universe together, and which cannot be independently derived from physical laws, if it means we are missing something deeper and more fundamental about reality.
Yet, without those constants, NASA wouldn't be able to put the James Webb telescope up and predict it's orbit.
IMO, and again my math stops at Trig, it's like calling gravity a "theory". Theory or not, throwing bowling balls off the roof of a 10 story building has a single outcome; all the balls will hit the ground.
"Hatred is a failure of imagination" - Graham Greene, "The Power and the Glory"
Cypress (01-16-2022)
Doc Dutch (01-16-2022)
I guess I was using the word "universal" in a different way in those two contexts.
It the context of physics, I use the word universal in a cosmological context. It applies to the cosmos.
In the realm of moral philosophy, I use the word universal to denote something that is universally sensed, shared, or understood by homo sapiens. It applies to homo sapiens.
Thanks for the clarification.
Unless you are assuming that homo sapiens are the only intelligent life in the Universe, then I disagree that human morals are Universal.
Additionally, most human morals are relative and/or arbitrary. Age of adulthood being one as it ties to rights, age of consent, conscription, etc.
Back on topic, am I correct that we are agreed on Universal constants in the physical universe?
"Hatred is a failure of imagination" - Graham Greene, "The Power and the Glory"
To me, age of legal drinking, age of legal voting, marriage rituals, burial rituals, are social artifacts and cultural values.
Human culture and society have a wide range of acceptable practices.
But the the fact that Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Judaism all roughly zeroed in (within a margin of error) on the same basic metaphysical moral code concerning virtue, charity, mercy, justice, compassion, right speech, right manner, right thought, doesn't sound like coincidence to me.
It sounds like humans fundamentally agree on a basic maxim of universal moral truths, within a margin of error.
Whether or not they act on these truths is a matter of character and free will.
Concerning physical constants of the universe, truth is a loaded word. In science, I am not sure we ever have truth. 100 years from now, we might realize Planck's constant is just an expression of a deeper, and underlying phenomena we did not previously recognize.
The mass of an electron might have seemed like a fundamental truth at one time, until we discovered the Higgs boson and realized the mass of an electron is really just an expression of the Higgs field.
Agreed on cultural values but as we've discussed, a lot of those cultural values have a religious basis. Pretty easy to guess which religion in the West. LOL
Again I have heartburn with using the word "universal" when it only applies to humans. It's like saying "Democracy is a universal idea" but only referencing the USA, not other countries. Sorry, but IMHO, it's misleading. "Common human mores" would be more accurate.
We say "killing is wrong" on one hand but applaud the execution of terrorists with the other. Ergo, killing is relative to who is gettin' killed, not a "universal moral code".
https://examples.yourdictionary.com/mores-examples.html
Mores are often dictated by a society's values, ethics, and sometimes religious influences. Some mores examples include:
- It is not considered acceptable or mainstream to abuse drugs, particularly those such as heroin and cocaine.
- It is not considered acceptable to drive at 90 mph in a residential area.
- It is expected that one would hold the door for a person behind him or her when entering a building.
- Normal dress for women at work excludes clothes that are highly revealing.
- It is not considered acceptable for a woman to be highly sexually promiscuous.
- It is expected that one will be on time for work the majority of the time.
- It is not acceptable to wear casual clothes in most fine dining establishments.
- It is expected that alcohol consumption in public will be in moderation.
- Talking to oneself in public is not considered a normal behavior.
- Stealing is considered unacceptable under any circumstance.
- Adults are expected to work in order to support themselves.
- Nudity in public is not acceptable in most areas.
- Picking one's nose in public is not an acceptable behavior.
- People are expected to be honest.
- Respect for other people's property is important.
- If a promise is made, it is expected it will be kept.
- Chewing with one's mouth closed is expected.
- Eating in a sloppy way and at fast pace is not an acceptable behavior.
- Being married to more than one person is not acceptable in most areas.
- Incestuous behavior is not considered normal.
- Using the phrase "thank you" is expected when someone has provided a service.
- Quick repayment of debt to another individual is an expected behavior.
- Murder is not acceptable.
- Remaining loyal to one's spouse is an expected behavior.
- Rising for the national anthem is an expected behavior.
- Sending a thank you note to someone who has given a present is expected.
- Not abusing children is a societal expectation.
- Providing adequate housing and food for oneself and one's family is expected.
- Shorts should not be worn in a professional work atmosphere.
- When dressing for a job interview in an office, men should wear and a suit and tie.
- If something is knocked over in a store, the person who did so will clean up after himself.
- Belching at the dinner table is not an acceptable behavior.
- Cursing in polite conversation is not acceptable.
- Rudeness to service staff is not societally acceptable.
- Wearing a bikini to church would not be expected.
- Robbing a bank is against social norms.
- Setting one's own property on fire is not socially acceptable.
- Insurance fraud is not an acceptable behavior.
- Going to work or school barefoot is not socially acceptable.
- Being kind to animals is socially expected.
- Slurping one's food is not acceptable in the U.S.
- Ignoring someone when they are speaking is not acceptable.
- Talking while someone else is talking is considered unacceptable.
"Hatred is a failure of imagination" - Graham Greene, "The Power and the Glory"
Cypress (01-16-2022)
I can see where you would think the term Universal is a loaded word.
I was using the word in the sense Thomas Jefferson used it in the declaration of independence > A self evident universal truth, at least from the perspective of humanity, not for the Andromeda galaxy or Alpha Centari.
Doc Dutch (01-16-2022)
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