John Archibald Wheeler- one of the great visionaries of modern physics; disciple of Einstein; by reputation, a bit of a prude--but not always.
They were originally called black stars, or dark stars; those deep holes in space whose gravitational attraction is irresistible even to light. Wheeler began to refer to them as "black holes". The new term was immediately blackballed by the preeminent American physics journal Physics Review as being obscene! But Wheeler fought it through the editorial board and black holes they became.
But, the inimitable Wheeler wasn't done: in describing the completely smooth and featureless characteristics of the black hole horizon, he opined that "black holes have no hair". Whether Physical Review was again outraged is not known!---These tidbits were excerpted from a delightful book entitled The Black Hole War by Leonard Suskind
In addition to black holes, John Wheeler coined the less controversial terms: "quantum foam", "wormhole", and the phrase "it from bit". In referring to the confusion surrounding the role of quantum gravity in particle physics, Wheeler's response was: "the question is; what is the question?
"it from bit" was meant to symbolize the idea that every item of the physical world, down to the most elementary particle, has an immaterial source and explanation. In short, all things physical are information-theoretic in origin.
Question: Are we the creators--or at least the minds that make the universe manifest?
Question: Will the Unified Theory turn out to be mind stuff?
"Consciousness is the Phenomenon, all else is Epiphenomena."----Deepak Chopra
"We are a way for the universe to know itself." - Carl Sagan! :)
ReplyDeleteI think the universe manifests the consciousness of sentient beings as a form of self examination- or introspection- I know I have a grossly romantic position on this, but I think it might be sort of like how a rock is just a rock until a poet or a painter sees it as a Monument and then it becomes that thing and takes on a life of its own, however still inseparable from the relationship it has to that poet or painter. People are constantly personifying things in order to understand ourselves better... maybe the universe kind of does the same?
P.s. I left my phone at the gym so if you've been trying to get a hold of me that's why I haven't responded. haha. LOVE YOU!