iSoul Time has three dimensions

Physical history

April 20, 2019 2:40 pm ⋅

At the highest level of classification, history may be divided into human history (better known simply as ‘history’) and physical history. The former is a large subject with many subdivisions, while the latter is usually turned over to the physical sciences. This is a pity since science and history are different disciplines (see posts here). What follows is a description of physical history as distinct from physical science.

History requires an agent of some kind. The environment is the proxy for an agent in evolutionary science. In physical history the agent is either humanity or one or more non-physical beings that connect to the physical world at its boundaries. The metaphysics of the latter are of no interest here, only their possibility. In other words, the physical universe has boundary conditions that are given; they are not a result of physical laws or processes.

But this sets up a potential conflict between a boundary condition which could have been the result of physical laws or process but was not. It would be simple to assume that all boundary conditions are such that they could not have been the result of physical laws or processes. But that assumes the limits of physical laws or processes are known, when they are to be determined rather than assumed.

Accordingly, the limits of physical laws and processes are themselves a matter of investigation. In other words, such limits are an open question. A good example of this is the argument for the existence of design in the physical world apart from human design. From human design we know something of what design is; if the physical world exhibits the features of human-like design but were not designed by humans, then a boundary condition has been found.

Otherwise, physical history is like human history. Physical particulars of the past are at the forefront, and universals of physical science are in the background. Whatever might be determined by physical science is acknowledged but the significant changes, the physical catastrophes and surprises, are granted a much greater rôle. There will no doubt be controversies between those who place much weight on key events versus those who look to the slow accumulation of little changes but such is usual for history.

Posted in: history, Knowing ⋅ Tagged: ,

Ignatowsky relativity

April 19, 2019 4:56 pm ⋅

Vladimir Ignatowski (1875-1942) was a Russian physicist. “In 1910 he was to first who tried to derive the Lorentz transformation by group theory only using the relativity principle (postulate), and without the postulate of the constancy of the speed of light.” K M Browne gave a simplified derivation in the European Journal of Physics, 39 (2018) 025601, from which the key steps are presented below, followed by the corresponding steps for a counter transformation, switching space and time.

This is a derivation of the Ignatowsky transformation in which the axes x, y, and z are taken to represent space axes rx, ry, and rz with time t. The relativity postulate is taken to be: a valid relativistic transformation must be identical in all inertial frames.

Step 1. To find a valid transformation, we take the usual inertial reference frames S and S′ (the latter moving at velocity v in the +x direction relative to the former) for which intra-frame space is Euclidean but inter-frame space (measured from one frame to the other) may be non-Euclidean. Linear equations are necessary so that an event in one frame appears as a single event, without echoes, in the other. Initial conditions are x′ = x = 0 when time t′ = t = 0. We expect the generalised x equation to be the Euclidean equation x′ = x − vt with an added multiplier, and if time is the fourth dimension, then the time equation will be similar but with two additional multipliers. The second of these, n, having the dimension of inverse velocity squared, is required to make the equation dimensionally correct. The y and z coordinates are not expected to be affected by x and t. The generalised transformation and its inverse are then

Read more →

Posted in: Knowing, space & time ⋅ Tagged: ,

Cycle of science

April 18, 2019 5:03 pm ⋅

There is a well-known alternation of induction and deduction in science (click to enlarge):

induction-deduction cycleThe induction phase consists of data collection, data analysis, and model development. The deduction phase consists of taking the model, making hypothetical inferences, and following up with experiments that lead to new data collection. Then the cycle repeats.

data collection-model development cycle Read more →

Posted in: Knowing, science ⋅ Tagged: ,

Isaiah Berlin on history and science

April 16, 2019 10:35 am ⋅

The following (long) excerpts are from Isaiah Berlin’s article “History and Theory: The Concept of Scientific History”, published in History and Theory 1 (1):1 (1960). Republished in Concepts and Categories: Philosophical Essays. NY: Viking Press, 1979. (online here).

HISTORY, according to Aristotle, is an account of what individual human beings have done and suffered. In a still wider sense, history is what historians do. Is history then a natural science, as, let us say, physics or biology or psychology are sciences? And if not, should it seek to be one? And if it fails to be one, what prevents it? Is this due to human error or impotence, or to the nature of the subject, or does the very problem rest on a confusion between the concept of history and that of natural science? These have been questions that have occupied the minds of both philosophers and philosophically minded historians at least since the beginning of the nineteenth century, when men became self-conscious about the purpose and logic of their intellectual activities. But two centuries before that, Descartes had already denied to history any claim to be a serious study. Those who accepted the validity of the Cartesian criterion of what constitutes rational method could (and did) ask how they could find the clear and simple elements of which historical judgements were composed, and into which they could be analysed: where were the definitions, the logical transformation rules, the rules of inference, the rigorously deduced conclusions? While the accumulation of this confused amalgam of memories and travellers’ tales, fables and chroniclers’ stories, moral reflections and gossip, might be a harmless pastime, it was beneath the dignity of serious men seeking what alone is worth seeking – the discovery of the truth in accordance with principles and rules which alone guarantee scientific validity.

Read more →

Posted in: history, Knowing, science ⋅ Tagged: ,

History and science combined

April 13, 2019 8:00 pm ⋅

For previous posts on history and science, see here.

History and science are different kinds of knowledge. History is based on the particulars that go into narratives. Science is based on the universals that go into theories.

History is focused on the matter and science is focused on the form, in the Aristotelian sense. The nature of something is its essence, its participation in universals, which is why there are natural sciences. Social sciences look at the form of human interaction. The term natural history is an older term for a scientific investigation into the natural world, especially biology, not a history in the modern sense.

The matter of something is its key particulars. Physical history is the investigation of the key particulars of physical objects in the past resulting in a narrative. This might be called natural history, but that term has meant science so it would be confusing. The investigation of the key particulars of documents in the past resulting in a narrative is simply called history.

History and science can be combined to explain something in the past. Yes. This is often called science but it is mainly history, with science assisting. For example, the investigation leading to the conclusion that the extinction of the dinosaurs was caused by a large asteroid or volcano is physical history that is commonly called science. Key particulars explain what happened. Science provides support. The result is a narrative, not a theory. (See here.)

The explanation of an event or series of events is history, since the particulars of events are history, even if science takes a supporting rôle. The explanation of a phenomenon or multiple phenomena is science, since their explanation depends on their nature, even if history takes a supporting rôle.

Repeating events entail universals that require science for explanation. Non-repeating events entail particulars that require history for explanation. Ancient mythology tried to explain repeating events through particulars, e.g., Zeus’ anger explains lightening, as if their nature was irrelevant. Modern mythology tried to explain unique events through universals, as if their substance was irrelevant.

“Creation science” concerns created universals. “Creation history” concerns created particulars.

Posted in: history, Knowing, science ⋅ Tagged: , ,

Length contraction and time dilation

April 9, 2019 11:03 am ⋅

These derivations follow that in ‘Hyperphysics’ here.

Length Contraction

The length of any object in a moving frame will appear foreshortened in the direction of motion, or contracted. The length is maximum in the frame in which the object is at rest.

Fixed and moving reference frames

If the length L0 = x2´ − x1´ is measured in the moving reference frame, then L = x2 − x1 in the rest frame can be calculated using the Lorentz transformation.

Read more →

Posted in: Knowing, space & time ⋅ Tagged: ,

Length and duration in space and time

April 8, 2019 7:56 pm ⋅

The following derivations are based on the exposition by G. G. Lombardi here.

Time Dilation

Time dilation with a light clock

A clock is made by sending a pulse of light toward a mirror at a distance L and back to a receiver. Each “tick” is a round-trip to the mirror and back. The clock is shown at rest in the “Lab” frame in Fig. 1a, or any time it is in its own rest frame. Consequently, it also represents the clock at rest in Rocket #1. Figure 1b is the way the clock looks in the Lab when the clock is at rest in Rocket #1, which is moving to the right with velocity v and legerity u, hence speed v and pace u.

Read more →

Posted in: Knowing, space & time ⋅ Tagged: ,

Lorentz from light clocks

April 4, 2019 3:10 pm ⋅

Space and time are inverse perspectives on motion. In space length is measured by a rigid rod at rest, whereas duration is measured by a clock that is always in motion. In time duration is measured by a clock at rest relative to the time frame, whereas length is measured by a rigid rod in motion that counteracts time as it were.

This is illustrated by deriving the Lorentz factor for time dilation and length contraction from light clocks. The first derivation is in space with scalar time and the second is in time with scalar space.

light clock with height hlight clock in motion

The first figure above shows a light clock in space as a beam of light reflected back and forth between two mirrored surfaces. The height that the light beam travels between the surfaces is h. Let one time cycle Δt = 2h/c = 2h¢ or h = cΔt/2 = Δt/(2¢), with mean speed of light c and mean pace of light ¢.

The second figure shows the light clock as observed by someone moving with velocity v and pace u relative to the light clock; the length of each leg is d; and the length of the base of one triangle-shaped cycle is b.

Read more →

Posted in: Knowing, science ⋅ Tagged: ,

Linear clocks and time frames

April 2, 2019 2:37 pm ⋅

The idea of a linear clock was mentioned before here, here, and here.

One bar on top of anotherOne bar shifted on another

Consider two bars or rods, one on top of the other (left), each with a zero point aligned at first. The top one moves at a constant rate relative to the other, which is at rest. After a time T, the top bar has moved an interval measured by the difference between the zero points of the bars (right). The length that B moved relative to A measures the time of motion.

Side note: a 12-inch ruler turned into a circle would form the markings for a 12-hour clock. The hours of time would correspond to inches of length.

A time frame of reference (TFR), or time frame, is a frame of reference for time. Like a space frame of reference (SFR) it is composed of rigid bars or rods that can in principle be extended indefinitely.

Read more →

Posted in: Knowing, space & time ⋅ Tagged: ,

Types of information

March 28, 2019 10:03 am ⋅

One type of information is surprise. If a message is surprising, then it is news and informative to the extent that it is new or unexpected. The opposite of this is the ordinary and expected, which can be filtered out like the carrier of a signal. This type of information is measured by entropy: the greater the entropy of a signal or series of messages, the greater its unpredictability. For n = 2,

H = −p log2(p) − (1−p) log2 (1−p),

which is a minimum at p = 0 or 1 and a maximum at p = 1/2.

The greatest unpredictability is noise, which is a random message. As the news media produces updates by the minute (and social media runs wild), the flood of surprise approaches noise. The news media has become the noise media.

This leads to information as unsurprise. In a flood of noise the presence of something recognizable is a reduction of surprise and entropy. Sufficiently reduce the noise and the result is a coherent signal. With the expansion of mass and social media today, there is an increasing need for filters and editors to extract meaning. This is measured by shifted entropy, in which noise is the minimum and a constant signal the maximum. For n = 2,

N = −|p−1/2| log2(|p−1/2|) − (1 − |p−1/2|) log2(1 − |p−1/2|),

which is a minimum at p = 1/2 and a maximum at p = 0 or 1.

The fullest information is both surprising and meaningful, a mean between the expected and the unexpected, the carrier and the noise of a channel of communication. This is measured by the mean of entropy and shifted entropy. For n = 2,h

M = ½( −p log2(p) − (1−p) log2(1−p) − (|p−1/2|) log2(|p−1/2|) − (1 − |p−1/2|) log2(1 − |p−1/2|),

which is a minimum at p = 0, 1/2, or 1 and a maximum at p = 1/4 or 3/4.

Posted in: Knowing ⋅ Tagged: