Included in Carl Sagan's posthumous collection of essays: "The
Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search
for God" (Penguin, 2007), is a beautiful satellite
photo of Saturn, taken during one of NASA's missions to the planet.
It is a stunning picture of perfect spherical symmetry, and as I
admired the photo, the thought ocurred to me that this was an image
of gravity itself - the "bare" force, with nothing added. Had Newton
seen this photo, he might immediately have deduced his namesake
gravitational force law - the geometry is so obvious. While we have
lost our dark skies and starry nights to the city lights of modern
technology, we have in compensation gained photos like this - a
museum-quality picture of the planet Saturn, as never before seen by
humans.
Just taking the photo at face value, we notice two major features:
1) the superb spherical symmetry, and 2) the fact that all the
particles composing this planet (and its magnificent rings) have
been gathered together in one place, rather than (as is more likely)
being strewn throughout space in a random/chaotic mist. In other
words, this is a photo of the work of a "gathering" force, evidently
a force acting between all the individual particles of the planet to
bring them to a common location at the center of their mutually
attractive forces. The force is spherically symmetric in its
activity, of that there can be no doubt. The photo just tells us
that there is a spherically symmetric "gathering force" ("gravity")
at work here, nothing more. Newton has to help us lesser mortals
with his inverse-square gravitational force law, the balancing
angular momentum and "centrifugal" force laws of mechanics (for the
rings), etc. , but post-Newton (and with the principal of energy
conservation), all this is evident from the photograph.
The atomic nature of matter (and its variety) is not demonstrated in
the Saturn photo, although the simple existence of a planet's worth
of matter without a counter-balancing allotment of antimatter, is in
fact a crucial ontogenetic issue which must be addressed during an
earlier cosmological epoch (primordial
weak-force symmetry-breaking between matter and antimatter
during the "Big Bang"). So much for lovely Saturn and the simple
symmetry of gravity - illustrating also the universal democracy of
the attractive force of gravity: only the
mass - not the kind - of a particle is felt by gravity (a
democracy extending even to antimatter).
If Saturn illustrates the simplicity of Newtonian gravity for us,
what forces does the Sun demonstrate? Our blazing star - so
different from serene Saturn - shows what happens when gravity
becomes strong enough to arouse the tremendous nuclear forces deep
within atoms. The weak, strong, and electromagnetic forces - in
addition to gravity - are all at work in our glorious star. In the
center of the Sun, at tremendous pressure and temperature, the
strong and weak nuclear forces work together to transform hydrogen
(one proton) into helium (2 protons/2 neutrons), releasing in the
process enormous amounts of energy (e = mcc), which is carried by
the electromagnetic force (as light) to outer space and planet
Earth. It's of course more complicated than this, but this is the
essential picture (electron neutrinos are also released).
The solar process is "spontaneous" of course, given the whip of
gravity. Gravity is forcing the solar process because matter - in
the absence of antimatter - has a
symmetry debt to repay, which can be
accomplished by the conversion of matter's mass to light. Light has
the greatest symmetry of any energy form,
and during the "Big Bang" very high-energy light creates matter and
antimatter in equal numbers of particle-antiparticle pairs. These
pairs attract each other (via the opposite charges of the long-range
electromagnetic force) and annihilate, returning to the symmetric
light which formed them. However, the weak force also enters this
creation process and slightly reduces ("breaks") the symmetry of the
annihilating pairs, such that about one pair out of 10 billion
(approximately) fails to annihilate, leaving a (tiny) residue of
matter which decays to its ground state, forming our asymmetric
matter-only universe, including us. This is "primordial
weak force symmetry-breaking", and it is responsible for the
production of the matter component of our universe. The photons
released from the bulk of the (symmetric) annihilation reactions are
seen today as the 2.7K cosmic background radiation. Meanwhile, the
heavy leptoquark antineutrinos released during the primordial
symmetry-breaking have become the mysterious "dark matter" of the
Cosmos. The matter-only asymmetry of our Universe is its most
significant single fact - the "original sin" of the Cosmos - the
underlying explanation for all subsequent phenomena.
Light (free electromagnetic energy) has the greatest symmetry of any
known form of energy, whereas atomic matter (bound electromagnetic
energy) is very asymmetric.
To this point, light is massless, carries no charge (including no gravitational charge), is
non-local and timeless, traveling with intrinsic motion "c".
Velocity "c" is a symmetry state of effectively "infinite" velocity
defining/creating space (light's entropic conservation domain). In
contrast, matter is massive, carries various charges (including a gravitational "location" charge),
is local and temporal, has no intrinsic spatial motion, having
instead an intrinsic temporal motion in history (matter's entropic
conservation domain). History is matter's entropic equivalent of
light's entropic spatial domain. Together, free and bound
electromagnetic energy produce the compound entropic conservation
domain of historic spacetime, wherein both
forms of electromagnetic (EM) energy can find their conservation
needs satisfied - beginning with their entropic ("intrinsic")
motions in space and time. It is these "intrinsic" motions in space
and time that cause the entropic expansions of space, time, and
historic spacetime. When free EM energy is converted into
bound EM energy (as during the "Big Bang"), a great deal of symmetry
is lost; according to Noether"s Theorem, this lost symmetry must
somehow be conserved. Nature's way of conserving light's symmetry
when massless light is converted into massive matter is via charge
conservation - matter-antimatter annihilation providing the
archetypal example. The charges of matter are symmetry debts of
light. Charge conservation is symmetry conservation, and this
rule applies also to matter's gravitational "location" charge, hence
providing a conceptual unification of the "four forces of physics"
under the mantle of Noether's Theorem as
applied to their various charges.
The point of this discussion is that the "whip of gravity" is a
symmetry debt of matter, specifically the gravitational
"location" charge of matter (Gm), which codes for the lost
symmetry of light's "non-locality" - symmetry lost when light was
converted into matter during the "Big Bang" (or subsequently).
Matter has "location" in spacetime, light does not. "Location" is a
lower state of symmetry because the time dimension of matter is
one-way, and because matter's definite spatial position is
undistributed. Light's non-locality has "all-way" dimensional
symmetry, as well as a symmetric spatial distribution (equitable
everywhere) due to its "infinite" and "intrinsic" velocity "c",
which is actually a state of dimensional symmetry, banishing time.
Matter's gravitational symmetry debt (Gm) is active in terms of
negative spatial entropy-energy, that is, gravity causes the
contraction and heating of space, rather than spatial expansion and
cooling. What gravity is actually doing is converting space to time,
converting the positive spatial entropy domain of light (free EM
energy) to the positive historical entropy domain of matter (bound
EM energy), creating the compound entropy domain of historic
spacetime. Recall that Einstein discovered that "space" is actually
"spacetime". Gravity is simply extracting a metrically equivalent
temporal component by collapsing space; one entropy domain is
seamlessly replaced by the other, both forming the necessary
dimensional foundation for energy conservation of free or bound EM
energy via "intrinsic" dimensional motions, whether spatial (light -
velocity c) or historic (matter - time). People ask: "What is the
Universe expanding into?", when told of Hubble's epic discovery; the
Universe expands into the compound entropic
domain of historic spacetime. Gravity is matter's memory
it once was light.
When gravity causes the conversion of mass (bound EM energy) to
light (free EM energy) in our Sun, the gravitational mass of the Sun
is reduced, as is the Sun's "location" symmetry debt, in equivalent
amount (hence "paying down" the "principal" of the "location"
symmetry debt, not just paying the "interest" as in weaker planetary
fields). If this process could go to completion, the Sun's mass
would be completely converted to the light which originally created
the atoms of the Sun, and the Sun (and its gravity) would disappear
- all symmetry debts paid in full. However, due to the conservation
of "baryon number", this process can only go to completion in a
"Black Hole", via Hawkings "quantum radiance" (this is the
conservation function of black holes - paying the symmetry debt of
"baryon number" in satisfaction of Noether's Theorem). On
planets like Earth or Saturn, where the gravitational force is too
weak to engage nuclear energies, gravity simply "pays the interest"
on the "location" symmetry debt represented by the planet's
gravitational mass, converting space to time and hence creating the
time dimension of the planet, providing the planet with a (very
necessary) historical entropy domain. In the Sun, both "interest and
principal" of matter's "location" or gravitational symmetry debt are
simultaneously paid by the conversion of mass to light.
Our Sun (and stars generally) is simultaneously performing two
important services for the Universe: 1) paying the "location"
symmetry debt of the Sun's gravitational mass, both "interest and
principal", by the gravitational conversion of bound to free EM
energy; 2) taking the first step along the "Information
Pathway" toward the Periodic Table of the Elements and the
creation of life, by converting hydrogen into helium. Indeed, the
solar effulgence may be seen as a celestial celebration of this
double accomplishment. The strong and weak nuclear forces, roused to
action by gravity, are involved in both processes. But it is the
gravitational charge-energy (Gm) which collects the particles and
provides the necessary push and "spontaneous" (charge driven)
character of these transformations. Larger stars than our Sun will
complete the Periodic Table via greater temperatures and pressures
and eventually via supernova explosions.
Let us look now at planet Earth, and ask what this may tell us of
fundamental processes. Whereas Saturn illustrated gravitational
forces paying the "interest" on the "location" symmetry debt of
planetary mass, calmly converting space to time/history, the Sun
also illustrated the paying of the "principal" of the "location"
symmetry debt associated with the Sun's mass (Gm), via the violent
action of the weak and strong forces converting hydrogen to helium,
thereby climbing the first rung of the "Information Ladder" leading
to the full Periodic Table of the Elements. On Planet Earth we
finish this journey from the Periodic Table to life: life is the
crowning glory of the Information Pathway and Information domain,
and the rationale for the very existence of the Universe. On
planet Earth, humanity is the top rung of the
"Information Ladder"; however, we have no
idea what might have been achieved elsewhere within the Information
Domain of our Universe. The significance of planet Earth is the
story of life, of the gentle intersection of the Information Domain
with the electron shell of atoms and molecules, especially carbon
atoms and water molecules. Seen from a distance, our planet is a
curious sight, surrounded by a swarm of artificial satellites,
occasionally shooting probes (both robotic and manned) to our moon
and other planets, even out of the solar system altogether. It also
produces a multitude of radio and TV transmissions; at night the
lights of cities can be seen. No other planet does anything like
this. Clearly the special feature of our planet is life, and
technologically advanced life at that. But what a curious thing life
is! We who have life tend to become accustomed to the miracle we are
experiencing - we are the atoms of the Earth raised to self-aware
consciousness; we in fact embody the information pathway
by which the universe achieves consciousness and self-awareness,
looks around, and sees itself and its creations "from the inside". "The human experience", in all its facets -
the drama, the love, the pain, the courage, the accomplishment, the
understanding, the appreciation, the awe, the beauty, the
inventions, the science, the art, the creativity - all these things
and many more are available to the Universe only through the
physical form of human life (so far as we know). Mighty and vast as
it is, the Universe must stoop to our level to experience anything
more complex than mere existence - human love, for example, or human
creativity and discovery in the arts and sciences, even the pure
drama, pomp and circumstance of our small human life. These all
belong to the universe only through us, only through the information
pathway of the Periodic Table, atomic electron shells, and the
evolutionary phenomenon of Homo sapiens.
Our planet has an atmosphere that is about 20% oxygen, which is a
highly reactive gas (fire, rust) that informs us of the presence of
living plants and photosynthesis. Life has changed ("terraformed")
planet Earth in many ways to suit itself (as in the "Gaia"
hypothesis), filling the "biosphere" of Earth (essentially the
entire surface of the planet) with millions of species of
extant/extinct life forms. Life is a weedy "take-over" force,
reproducing itself until it fills all available and suitable space,
even if that space is the size of a planet. Life is not a small or
timid force; life arises from the confluence of information and
electromagnetism in the electron shells of atoms, molecules, and
chemical systems (electricity supplies the force, information
supplies the diversity, evolution supplies the function). Life is
curious and expansive, exploring the available space for suitable
habitat. Above all, life is creative, not only reproducing itself,
but evolving new forms with new capacities, enabling survival in new
habitats. That is what those "artificial" satellites are about: life
finally evolved a space-faring species of rocket scientists that can
propel her to entirely new worlds, as well as protect her home
planet (from large meteor strikes, for example). As for humans
created in the "image and likeness" of God, in a functional and
fractal sense this is true on a micro-scale, in the sense that we
are creative, we make new species of animals and plants, we even
make new elements, we understand and harness the forces of nature,
we terraform the Earth, and we model our social systems on what we
presume to be "divinely ordained" laws and principles, taking
"karmic law/justice" into our own hands ("on Earth as it is in
Heaven"). We are indeed little gods, and what we do now on a daily
basis would seem utterly miraculous to people of biblical times.
Earth tells us that life is one of the fundamental forces, that life
manifests where conditions permit, and that it is characteristic of
life to create, invent, explore, and spread. We can expect that what
is happening in our solar system is also happening (or has/will
happen) in similar systems throughout our own galaxy and in the
other galaxies of the Cosmos. The life force is apparently a
chemical sub-system of electromagnetism. Likewise, "Information" is
a universal characteristic of atomic systems, resident in the atomic
nucleus, electron shell, the chemical elements of the Periodic
Table, and all elaborated chemical systems. There
is magic in the atoms, and it is called "life". The
fundamental ingredients of life (electromagnetism/Information) being
ubiquitous throughout the material universe, we
expect life to arise wherever conditions permit. The only
question is what form it takes in its various manifestations and
evolutionary pathways. Of particular interest is how common is
technological civilization? This is an especially knotty problem, as
even on Earth today we have stone-age cultures subsisting
simultaneously with rocket scientists and super-computers.
Apparently, even when all other conditions are suitable, a
science-based technological civilization may fail to evolve. And
even if it does, it may self-destruct, leaving no progeny
behind. Nevertheless, the fact that we have no alien visitors
is only a testament to the insuperable distances separating
astronomical systems, and the validity of Einstein's theories
regarding the intractable problems of extensive travel in spacetime,
especially for living creatures. We should be grateful for this
isolation, however, as it protects us from predatory invaders from
elsewhere in our galaxy - think of the "Borg" in the TV series "Star
Trek". It seems very likely that we will always have the Earth to
ourselves, to do with as we like, for better or worse. As for the
other - apparently lifeless - planets of our solar system, they are
defining the limits of habitable celestial real estate: too hot, too
cold, too large, too small, improperly constituted, etc. Of course
some of these may surprise us yet, but there is much to learn even
from the sterile failures.
What is the magic that infuses atoms and the information
pathway with life? Is it anything more than the ability of DNA
to replicate itself within a competitive, difficult
environment? All our art, science, religion and philosophy
testify that there is (at least potentially) more to life than
merely animal functions: eating, breeding, etc.; that beyond the
animal, humans have opened, and are expanding into, a new abstract realm of knowledge, experience, and
accomplishment, an intellectual, abstract information domain even
larger and more various than that explored by molecular DNA before
us, a domain that is pulling us into unknown territory. Finally,
life lifts the Universe above a bare mineral existence, giving it
self-conscious awareness, a purpose, and a significance. As Tolstoy
understood, the meaning of life is found in the experience of life,
both for the Universe and for the individual. "God is life, and to
love life is to love God." Thou Shalt Grow! Reproduce! Explore!
Create! Experience! Celebrate!
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