Philosophical implications of relativity

These things were written as a lecture for physics students and are therefore based on prior knowledge; But others will also be able to understand and find interest in some of the things

We want to reach mainly philosophical, religious and worldview implications, but initially we will point out several points in the theory of relativity related to philosophy and the development of science.

Fresnel's ether drag as an explanation for the problem of focusing the telescope and Fitzgerald-Lorentz contraction as an explanation for the Michelson-Morley experiment - they were based on the assumption of the existence of the ether and they came to explain and justify facts that contradicted its existence. And here it turns out that Fresnel's ether drag coefficient corresponds approximately to the formula for the connection of velocities arising from the basic assumptions of special relativity and the Fitzgerald Lorentz contraction follows directly from those basic assumptions, but without connection to the ether (contraction of bodies moving in the direction of movement; this contraction is distinguished at velocities approaching the velocity the light).

Parnell and Fitzgerald allegedly proved the existence of the site (more precisely - they gave an explanation that reconciles the existence of the site with facts that contradicted its existence). Later it turned out that the site does not exist, but their assumptions are correct. This is a successful example of the logical rule that says that if from P follows Q and P is not true, it does not mean that Q is not true.

Newton's teachings were considered to be true and accurate and should not be changed like the tip of a stick (this was the opinion of Hiuel, Herschel, Laplace and Helmholtz who were not considered conservative or conformist).

Einstein's greatness is that he dared and deviated from Newton's teachings. Instead of absolute space and absolute time, which are axioms in Newton's theory (by the way, absolute space is against simple logic, because there is nothing to attribute it to), Einstein assumed that the speed of light is an absolute factor and this is also a solution to the problem of the time of a distant event - instead of an arbitrary determination of the clock time the distant

It can be said that Einstein established the principle of correspondence in science which says that it is desirable for a new Torah to be such that the previous Torah is an approximation or a special case of it. Thus, Maxwell's quantum theory is an approximation to Einstein's, just as Newton's theory of gravity is an approximation to Einstein's, and although according to Lee and Ying's theory, the principle of parity (one of the symmetries of the elementary particles), is only an approximation of the truth.

The ancient Greek scientists did not refer to observations and claimed that science cannot be derived from them and therefore any theory - there is no confidence in its truth. This principle was not reflected in the inductivist methods that dominated science, but Einstein was the one who emphasized in science the multi-valued philosophy and the circularity-substitution of different theories.

Thus, for example, in the measurement of the speed of light made by Remer (without currently referring to the explanation that the measurement is actually two-way), it is possible to arbitrarily determine that the distant clocks are synchronized and from this to determine the other quantities, or alternatively - to arbitrarily determine the speed of light and from this to coordinate the clocks.

Another example - the different physics are substitutes and different geometries must be adapted to them and it is not possible to determine which one is real.

And another example - according to the theory of general relativity, any movement can be explained using two equivalent descriptions.

The universe according to Einstein

From the theory of general relativity it appears that the universe is finite and unlimited - circular-spherical at the level of four dimensions. It is unlimited as one can walk without limit along a circle or on the surface of a sphere, but finite, as the length of a circle and the surface area of ​​a sphere are finite.

This nature of the universe is due to the curvature of the lines of space due to the masses scattered in the universe, until they return to their point of origin. The question of what is beyond the universe has no meaning, because where there is no mass and energy, the concepts of space and time have no meaning. All this can lead to speculations about the circularity of time, and about a hierarchy of additional dimensions beyond the four known and defined ones and the idea of ​​additional universes.

It is worth mentioning that this picture of the world, according to the theory of relativity, is static and does not take into account the expansion of the universe, which Einstein was not aware of at the time and therefore added an incorrect constant to his equations.

The expanding dynamic universe does not change the concept of the finite and unlimited universe. In comparison to three dimensions, it is an inflatable balloon that is also limitless, yet its area at any given moment is finite.

Maimonides: Everything is expected and permission is given

A philosophical problem of Judaism as formulated by Rambam - everything is expected and permission is given. That is, how can Judaism claim that there is free choice for man, if the Creator of the world knows everything in advance. Rambam explained this in some way, but the problem stems from our misunderstanding of the concept the time If time depends on movement, masses and forces and it is impossible to separate space from time at all, or in other words, it is legally considered a dimension in space, then the past, present and future are points on this dimension and actions that have been done and will be done are spread over it and whoever perceives and understands time as a spatial dimension, then every sequence Time is stretched out before him. Only we are bound to the present, because of our misunderstanding, or for a technical reason that we are aware and think in three dimensions.

what is god

From this we can try to imagine the essence of God. Let us assume that God is a being who perceives and feels time as a dimension, as we described earlier, therefore he is superior to all of us in that all time is spread out before him (by the way, if the parapsychological phenomenon of remote vision is true, this also explains the reports that those endowed with this ability see events not only in places others, but also in the past and in the future). And how he can work miracles - very simple - because he occupies four dimensions. Just as a creature that controls three dimensions, like us, can control a hypothetical two-dimensional world (a plane), move, add and subtract objects from it, through the third dimension (out of the plane), in a way that will appear miraculous to the hypothetical inhabitants of this world. Thus those who control the fourth dimension can work miracles in the eyes of those who perceive only three dimensions.

His eternity in time is also understandable, because for him being at some point in time is possible, as for us being at some point in space, if only we travel there.

What happens when you go the speed of light?

Finally, we will make another logical argument regarding the inability to exceed the speed of light.

According to the theory of relativity, the speed of light is an upper limit for the passage of any information and for mass - a limit that can only be approached. From this comes the shortening in the direction of movement, the shortening of time and the increase in mass. The increase in mass beyond infinity, as well as the shortening of length and time to negative values, are results of the Torah and not an explanation of why it is not possible to exceed the speed of light. The observations confirmed the Torah, therefore the following explanation is not an argument why it is impossible to exceed the speed of light, but an argument that agrees with the Torah.

If we move at a speed close to light, our time will be reduced relative to outside observers, meaning we will arrive in a relatively short time in the distant future of the privileged system. If we move at the speed of light (theoretically), we will reach any point in the future in zero time. The meaning of this future should be carefully examined, since it is located far from the starting point (if we reach the future at the edge of the galaxy, or in another galaxy, what is there will not surprise us - unlike the future of the Earth. If we discover beings with advanced technology there - this could be in place some even a billion years ago and this brings us back to the problem of synchronization between very distant events in space).

Solving the Twin Paradox

If, on the other hand, we go back to the starting point - we activated acceleration and this is actually the solution to the twins' paradox (one of them went on a journey in space and when he returned he found his brother older or long dead and then the question is asked how it was determined which of them is the younger - because each of them moves relative to the other ).

Suppose we traveled rapidly through space and returned to our starting point. We have arrived in the far future, but our appearance there is logically accepted - like the appearance of every traveler in space; But if we move above the speed of light (and remain in our universe - because there is a theory that holds that there is a kind of anti-universe to which we pass as soon as we pass the speed of light and where this is considered sub-light speed) - time will pass zero and become negative, which means we will reach the past (according to a simplistic explanation - we will get the pictures of the events that were in the past) and to reach the past, is something that logic cannot tolerate. Our appearance in the past will change it, and the past already was; It's like being at two points in space at the same time (and we won't go into the subject of alternative universes here)...