T.Sands wrote:
>
>I don't know if this topic interests anyone or not,
>
Sure it does!
>but I've been doing a lot
>of thinking lately about Gravity. Keep in mind, I am a layman in physics.
>
Layman questions are usually good questions, because you
don't know which questions are taboos :-)
>In fact, I admit I know very little about the practical mechanics of the
>Universe. Mostly these ideas have to do with viewing Gravity not from a
>scientific point of view, but from a spiritual one. Many of these concepts,
>I'm sure, have been discussed before ... but this is something that popped
>into my brain out of nowhere and won't leave me alone. It's sort of a
>merging of science with religion, a way of attempting to describe that which
>cannot be described (which, I suppose, is all science or religion ever has
>been).
>
Hmmm... It sounds like a piece of a script... Are these any of
your characters' ideas? :-)
>If you read on, do so with an open mind ...
>
I don't have an open mind :-P
>My thoughts came from the idea that gravity is a real natural FORCE which I
>have seen in action (things fall to the ground, tides go up and down). This
>led me to think about gravity beyond earth -- meaning the sun, the moon, and
>the other planets of the solar system -- all of which have gravity of various
>degrees. We know the gravity of other massive bodies such as planets
>influence events on earth. The moon is credited with the power to move
>entire oceans hundreds of feet up and hundreds of feet down every day in the
>form of shifting tides.
>
Yikes!!! I should stop reading here: I swore I would delete without reading
any message containing those barbarous pseudo-units :-/
>It naturally follows, then, that these same
>gravitational forces would have an influence on our bodies, which are made of
>96% water. In this sense, as the moon pulls the tide up and down, I believe
>the moon influences the mass of my brain on a much smaller scale, pulling me
>this way or that depending on where I am and the choices I make in relation
>to this pull (hence the belief that people go crazy on a full moon, or what
>seems to be the basis of Astrology).
>
This is wrong, because the Moon pulls your body *equally*. The only
reason that there are tides is that Earth's crust isn't liquid, so it can't
stretch in the direction of the Moon. But it *does* stretch a little bit,
too.
>The fabric of space-time is influence profoundly by gravity. Black holes are
>said to contain the strongest gravity known, gravity stronger than light.
>Einstein taught us that light is directly related to time. Therefore,
>gravity is stronger than time.
>
Apples and Oranges. The sentence, above, has the same
semantic meaning as "a river is stronger than a movie".
>If you can imagine the solar system and
>beyond in relation to gravity, you will see that all bodies of motion are
>guided by the ebb and flow of gravity in an intricate, profoundly complex
>exchange of energy. It is the merging and tearing apart of mass on a huge,
>cosmic scale. On earth, these forces are invisible to us, yet are acting on
>us every moment we are alive. Gravity is very real and very much and active
>part of existence for all of humanity -- and all of the Universe, for that
>matter.
>
It's more or less General Relativity: Gravity is the space-time metric.
>All of this is acting on a subatomic level as well. As forces of gravity
>bombard me from all directions (from distant stars as well as asteroids and
>planets), the "mass" of my matter -- my blood, bones, and tissues are tugged,
>pushed, and pulled in minuscule ways I cannot consciously recognize. The
>atoms that make up the sum total of my body (and perhaps even my
>consciousness) are as subject to the influence of gravity as a planet or a
>moon. The quantum state is, in simple terms, a microcosm for what is
>happening on the largest scale conceivable.
>
So what?
>To relate this idea to the spiritual, or emotional realm, is a quick leap of
>faith. Feelings of depression, or "heaviness," or anxiety come from
>displaced energy.
>
Have to ask a physician. But feelings of depression, or "heaviness", or
anxiety come from electromagnetic forces rather than gravitational
forces.
>I believe these feelings manifest themselves in people
>because they are "going against gravity."
>
Not at all.
>This means they are making choices
>(consciously or otherwise) that go against the natural order of their place
>in the cosmic picture. For a man to join the celestial ebb and flow of
>gravity he need only surrender himself to these higher forces, and he will be
>lifted up -- made "light," happy, easy going. He will walk with a spring to
>his step because he has tapped into the flow of natural forces that have hold
>of him and are guiding him toward an unknown future. When he falls to his
>knees in sorrow, when he feels aches and strains in his back, when he feels
>"heavy," he is fighting something far strong than himself. He is limiting
>his experience, anchoring himself to a certain spot on the earth in spite of
>the forces that are pulling him elsewhere. He is going against gravity.
>
You are taking that metaphor too seriously :-)
>This is where the concept of "free will" comes into play. Men and women are
>freethinking beings who can chose to go right or left, walk or run, say yes
>or no. But I believe that people can make choices that "go with gravity" or
>choices that "go against gravity." Once this idea is accepted, the concepts
>of karma and fate take on new significance. The interconnectedness of people
>on earth is a deep, cosmic thing that, I feel, is directly related to
>gravity. When a child is "born," he is taken out of the womb. His "mass,"
>previously merged with his mother's, is now a free floating life form with
>it's own set of gravitational forces (and perhaps this relates to a man's
>sexual desire to return to the womb).
>
So you don't think a fetus is a living independent being? You are
an abortionist!!! :-)))))
>Astrologists create a "natal chart,"
>which maps the positions of the planets in relation to your position on earth
>at the moment you are born. Could it be that at the moment of birth, a child
>is brought into the cosmic flow like a stick thrown into a river? Could it
>be that the complex spiral of gravitational forces spinning 'round him at the
>moment of his birth "latch on" to his mass, and influence him for the rest of
>his life?
>
No, because there ain't no such thing as a complex spiral of gravitational
forces. There is only one measurable gravitational quantity for all
bodies [and, by measurable, I mean something that can be perceived
by any process], and this quantity is how much each atom of the
body is resisting free fall. In first approximation, this vector is the
acceleration of gravity, with minor corrections for the rotation that
the body is undergoing when the obstetrician is taking it from
the womb.
(...)
>
>So ... am I way off base?
>
Yes
>Are these ideas crazy?
>
Yes - but they make a good script O:-)
>I'm still not sure. All I know is ... it's working for me.
>
Mixing scientific ideas with religion is very dangerous. The
best you can get is a sc*ent*l*gy.
Alberto Monteiro
