Which begs the question: How is it possible for an object (our Universe) to rest "inside" the formless Metaverse without affecting the undifferentiated nature of that originating place? How can space and non-dimensionality, time and timelessness, change and the changeless co-exist without touching the untouchable Metaverse?
This paradox is easily solved by imagining that the membrane itself possesses a fractal surface, such as the Koch Curve. Through an infinite series of calculations, the fractal surface keeps itself contained and interiorized; keeping the undifferentiated unity of the Metaverse unsullied.
This paradox reminds me of the time segmentation illusion. In order for time to pass from one moment to the next, there are an infinite number of segments that time must pass through in order to get to the next moment, regardless of how small that unit of time is. Because there are an infinite number of divisble segments between two moments of time, it would be reasonable to assume that it would take an infinite amount of time to pass through all of these segments. Oh, I just ran out of time to write about this...
ReplyDeleteIt's taken me a while to reply to your comment, Dave, because something about that time paradox seems fundamentally true, so I wasn't sure what to write. Aren't time and space required by each other's presence? So if space has a fractal border containing it, then wouldn't time also have a fractal border? Could the solution to the time segmentation illusion be some sort of fractal formula?
ReplyDeleteDave and Cyd, the time segmentation illusion is based on Zeno's Paradox that one can not move from point A to B because there are an infinite number of half way points to move through. One could never get started. He used the paradox in several different versions to show that motion is an illusion and not real. It was used as a defense of Parmenides position that the universe is One and undifferentiated (not segmented). I believe you are right, Cyd, that time and space require each other. Zeno's Paradox would apply to each. In accordance with my my previous comments with regard to your fractal commentary, there is truly neither space nor time. As an aside, for 2500 years mathematicians have claimed to have solved Zeno's Paradox. Isn't it interesting that there have been many, many answers. Why so many answers if there is a definitive solution? Apparently the answers are not so definitive!
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised more people don't participate in the conversations here. I'm certainly thankful for all who do. Please feel free to put the discussion to us in your own terms, or to ask questions or pose conundrums. Or simply introduce yourself, if so moved.
ReplyDeleteOk, my pet peev is people who dont understand time. Time is not linear... Its a a river with infinite forks. Each fork is a choice you make. All possible choices exist. You just navigate a certain series of forks in the river... damnit
ReplyDeleteIt's funny. I think of the flow in the opposite--that there are infinite probability spokes feeding in to the singular choice point of here and now, and then only one line, history, extruding out the the other side. I'm not so sure there is such a thing as time at all. But there is such a thing as history, and karma. Adhering to the notion of flowing time, as your model seems to, requires a dimension that may not be there. Our memories and awareness only pass through the sieve of here and now for certain, but this is a matter of focus of consciousness, not necessarily a dimension of time. Or so it seems to me.
ReplyDeleteDr. Ropp, I see your hesitation in answering. There really seems to be something here. It is like it is on the tip of one's tongue! A simple formula that would explain time and gravity. In nature many things appear to be squared. Force equations for example. The force of gravity F=Gm1m2/r(squared). Your example above of the Koch curve requires a squaring procedure. Could time actually be a force? Could "fractalation" itself be a force? I came across this page as I was gathering information on how organisms grow in various fractal patterns. Could this be a force exerted on a cell causing it's differentiation and linear growth?
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