7 ms·

My Own Personal Nothingness: From childhood hallucination to theoretical physics

52 points by dnetesn 8y ago

MisterOctober 8y ago
A couple things I note : 1) Lightman's description of his hallucinationish experience at the age of nine, wherein he perceived all time in one instant [or had the sensation of doing so], reminds me of Julian Barbour ["The Discovery of Dynamics"] and his hypothesis that all spacetime exists simultaneously -- not in a Minkowski-eque 'loaf,' but in a static collection of mathematical configuration spaces, each of which represent a "now" [which word, coincidentally, concludes Lightman's article]. 2) I can relate to Lightman's notion of 'Nothingness' as it relates to quantum field theory -- when I first cracked Tony Zee's "QFT in a Nutshell," I'm pretty sure I experienced the same feeling of complete inconsequentiality described by Lightman, though for totally different reasons.
- whatshisface 8y ago
  >hypothesis that all spacetime exists simultaneously One day, physicists will learn to recognize when they're doing 17th century philosophy.
  - MisterOctober 8y ago
    Marry well bethought! Barbour actually does live on an ancient farm somewhere in the English countryside, maybe the environs are influencing his, uh, humours?
  - trevyn 8y ago
    One day, 17th century philosophers will learn to recognize when they're doing Buddhism. ;-)
  - Luc 8y ago
    That can only be said by someone who's never read Barbour's books.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
- keithpeter 8y ago
  Julian Barbour has a web site with papers available http://www.platonia.com/ideas.html http://www.platonia.com/ideas.html Thanks for reference.
dschuetz 8y ago
I once felt the same "nothingness" once when I was 22 while reading a good book on a train. Eventually I closed the book to reflect on what I've read and there it was - the feeling of ultimate insignificance and a total immersion in spacetime. It was awesome and frightening at the same time. But, it takes a physicist to make associative connections of that feeling to Quantum Field Theory. His article is a particularly good read in that regard, thanks for sharing! It made me revisit my understanding of Quantum Fields. How full of something the supposed "nothingness" actually is!
cerealbad 8y ago
position yourself as an alien observer who happened to have evolved trilobozoan radial symmetry. you might have conceptual models of two separate oppositions and a third (their constant mixing) and build corresponding mathematics to reflect your biological nature. or perhaps some parasite or virus which requires a host body. in which case you must concern yourself with your own survival, the survival of your host and the stability of the host/virus system, often tending towards co-dependence to ensure future generations. these types of entangled systems are how life tends to really operate, from the dust mites on your skin to the bacteria in your gut it's a giant complicated mess of competing and cooperating hierarchical dependencies which are taking a rather more risky route towards increasing entropy than an icy comet orbiting our sun every few thousand years. human cognitive experience is a tiny sliver of the humanity engine, and often breaks in quirky ways- see drugs.
- alfredallan1 8y ago
  "some parasite or virus which requires a host body. in which case you must concern yourself with your own survival, the survival of your host and the stability of the host/virus system” I’d really like to agree. But arguably, humans are dependent on the earth for their survival, and yet the evidence suggests minimal concern for the stability of the planet’s ecosystems. Many viruses also end up killing the host system, often leading to the death of the guest viruses themselves..
- alfredallan1 8y ago
  One doesn’t need to go to the trouble of imagining oneself as an alien observer to do this. There are many examples closer to home. Many migratory birds have a sort of fifth sense (I don’t recall the nomenclature) that allows them to “feel” the earth’s magnetic field, and do not have the the red-blue-green combination for their primary colors - the world view of a bird and a human in a skyscraper looking down at the scenery below/around would already be significantly different. Or fish, for example, it’d be interesting to imagine life in the water, moving around at the flick of a tail.. The point being, one’s experience of reality is highly dependent on the physical apparatus one is equipped with.
  - 8y ago

52 points by dnetesn 8y ago

A couple things I note : 1) Lightman's description of his hallucinationish experience at the age of nine, wherein he perceived all time in one instant [or had the sensation of doing so], reminds me of Julian Barbour ["The Discovery of Dynamics"] and his hypothesis that all spacetime exists simultaneously -- not in a Minkowski-eque 'loaf,' but in a static collection of mathematical configuration spaces, each of which represent a "now" [which word, coincidentally, concludes Lightman's article]. 2) I can relate to Lightman's notion of 'Nothingness' as it relates to quantum field theory -- when I first cracked Tony Zee's "QFT in a Nutshell," I'm pretty sure I experienced the same feeling of complete inconsequentiality described by Lightman, though for totally different reasons.

whatshisface 8y ago
>hypothesis that all spacetime exists simultaneously One day, physicists will learn to recognize when they're doing 17th century philosophy.
- MisterOctober 8y ago
  Marry well bethought! Barbour actually does live on an ancient farm somewhere in the English countryside, maybe the environs are influencing his, uh, humours?
- trevyn 8y ago
  One day, 17th century philosophers will learn to recognize when they're doing Buddhism. ;-)
- Luc 8y ago
  That can only be said by someone who's never read Barbour's books.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
keithpeter 8y ago
Julian Barbour has a web site with papers available http://www.platonia.com/ideas.html http://www.platonia.com/ideas.html Thanks for reference.

dschuetz 8y ago

I once felt the same "nothingness" once when I was 22 while reading a good book on a train. Eventually I closed the book to reflect on what I've read and there it was - the feeling of ultimate insignificance and a total immersion in spacetime. It was awesome and frightening at the same time. But, it takes a physicist to make associative connections of that feeling to Quantum Field Theory. His article is a particularly good read in that regard, thanks for sharing! It made me revisit my understanding of Quantum Fields. How full of something the supposed "nothingness" actually is!

cerealbad 8y ago

position yourself as an alien observer who happened to have evolved trilobozoan radial symmetry. you might have conceptual models of two separate oppositions and a third (their constant mixing) and build corresponding mathematics to reflect your biological nature. or perhaps some parasite or virus which requires a host body. in which case you must concern yourself with your own survival, the survival of your host and the stability of the host/virus system, often tending towards co-dependence to ensure future generations. these types of entangled systems are how life tends to really operate, from the dust mites on your skin to the bacteria in your gut it's a giant complicated mess of competing and cooperating hierarchical dependencies which are taking a rather more risky route towards increasing entropy than an icy comet orbiting our sun every few thousand years. human cognitive experience is a tiny sliver of the humanity engine, and often breaks in quirky ways- see drugs.

alfredallan1 8y ago
"some parasite or virus which requires a host body. in which case you must concern yourself with your own survival, the survival of your host and the stability of the host/virus system” I’d really like to agree. But arguably, humans are dependent on the earth for their survival, and yet the evidence suggests minimal concern for the stability of the planet’s ecosystems. Many viruses also end up killing the host system, often leading to the death of the guest viruses themselves..
alfredallan1 8y ago
One doesn’t need to go to the trouble of imagining oneself as an alien observer to do this. There are many examples closer to home. Many migratory birds have a sort of fifth sense (I don’t recall the nomenclature) that allows them to “feel” the earth’s magnetic field, and do not have the the red-blue-green combination for their primary colors - the world view of a bird and a human in a skyscraper looking down at the scenery below/around would already be significantly different. Or fish, for example, it’d be interesting to imagine life in the water, moving around at the flick of a tail.. The point being, one’s experience of reality is highly dependent on the physical apparatus one is equipped with.
- 8y ago