The Meaning of Transcendence
Good evening everyone. ^_^ Some of you may already know I have recently become an ardent admirer of Carl Sagan, mainly for his documentary series Cosmos... sometimes I leave it playing in the background; the experience is akin to listening to my own thoughts... except voiced so much more eloquently and elegantly.
Anyway, I digress. What really sparked my thoughts for the day was a random curiosity about blackholes - in particular, the theory suggested by physicist Stephen Hawkings that blackholes "evaporate" over time and emit radiation. A quick search on the subject quickly turned to multiple pages of reading on Wikipedia regarding a phenomenon called "vacuum fluctuation". I am not overly familiar with quantum theory, so this was the first time I've heard of the term "vacuum fluctuation". If you have never heard of it before either, here's a quick explanation of what it is...
Remember the Law of Energy Conservation you learned in high school science classes? It states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. Well... it turns out that's not always true. The universe is completely capable of violating this rule - for a very brief moment of time. Particle pairs - consisting of a particle and its antiparticle - can appear literally "out of nothing" - then very quickly annihilate one another and disappear again. Although the law of energy conservation was violated briefly, the "borrowed" energy used to create these particles were returned upon their mutual annihilation, therefore the universe returns to normal and energy conservation is maintained. These "virtual particles" have been experimentally proven.
How does this relate to blackholes? Well, every now and then a particle pair would appear near the edge of the event horizon of a blackhole - one of the particles may become trapped in the event horizon, while the other one escapes. Because the particle pair has been separated, they are unable to annihilate one another - the particle that escaped the blackhole's event horizon becomes a real particle. For the law of energy conservation to be maintained, the particle that becomes trapped in the blackhole must have "negative energy". This means every time this happens, the blackhole loses some energy - and because E=mc2, this means mass has to be lost from the blackhole.
"Vacuum fluctuation" inevitably reminded me of another, somewhat related article I read a while back concerning something called "quantum entanglement", used for a (possible) future communication method called quantum teleportation. Quantum entanglement has to do with a strange "link" between two particles (entanglement) that determines their mutual state - if one of the particles changes its "spin", the other one will do so as well - [i]instantaneously[/i] - even if the two particles are separated across the galaxy.
Aside from the sheer awe of reading about things like this, I do find myself appreciating science all the more... I've always been a science enthusiast and this kind of stuff really tempts me to go back to school and pursue a scientific degree. xD But really, I think what I am trying to say is... may be sometimes I am too harsh in my opinion of mankind. Despite all the problems the world still has, despite all of mankind's imperfections... we have come this far. On this tiny planet of an insignificant star system, life has arisen and evolved to consciousness after 3 billion years of its humble existence. Reading about the vastness of the universe and the endeavors of courageous explorers and scientists who dared to study and speculate, sometimes even risking their lives to defy social conventions of their time - in order to understand the nature of our cosmos... it's a very humbling feeling, and a reminder of how much talent we humans have within ourselves. Modern science is still in its infancy - having only existed for some 500 years since Galileo; and in this 500 years - a blink of an eye in our 2-million year existence - we have come far. If I were the creator of the universe, I think I would have a certain appreciation for the effort of these tiny creatures on the planet Earth, busying about, digging into the deep mysteries of our universe... questioning the concepts of dimensions and time, sending out space ships to explore their tiny region of the galaxy.
Science is, in my opinion, as close as we humans will get to seeing into the eyes of God. It is our best bet, and wisest. It is not the "easiest" way of thinking, nor the most comforting - the universe is rich in mystery still, and many of the questions held by this generation won't be answered by science in our lifetime. But what is better: To turn away from the pursuit of knowledge and resort to superstitious beliefs for emotional comfort? Or to bravely seek out the answers, even if you may not end up finding them, or if the truth turns out to be disquieting?
I for one do not wish to live in an illusion created by fabrications of men... I am entirely certain that I won't regret not believing in a religion or higher power upon my deathbed; I think each and every one of us should feel honored to have had a chance to live on this Earth, to be able to see and feel and understand the world around us... to be reminded that there is an unbroken chain linking us to the very first stirrings of life on Earth, and even to the atoms produced by long-dead stars... we are all made of "star stuff", we are the consciousness of the universe and a way for the cosmos to know itself... how is that not enough to make anyone happy? :)
Anyway, I digress. What really sparked my thoughts for the day was a random curiosity about blackholes - in particular, the theory suggested by physicist Stephen Hawkings that blackholes "evaporate" over time and emit radiation. A quick search on the subject quickly turned to multiple pages of reading on Wikipedia regarding a phenomenon called "vacuum fluctuation". I am not overly familiar with quantum theory, so this was the first time I've heard of the term "vacuum fluctuation". If you have never heard of it before either, here's a quick explanation of what it is...
Remember the Law of Energy Conservation you learned in high school science classes? It states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. Well... it turns out that's not always true. The universe is completely capable of violating this rule - for a very brief moment of time. Particle pairs - consisting of a particle and its antiparticle - can appear literally "out of nothing" - then very quickly annihilate one another and disappear again. Although the law of energy conservation was violated briefly, the "borrowed" energy used to create these particles were returned upon their mutual annihilation, therefore the universe returns to normal and energy conservation is maintained. These "virtual particles" have been experimentally proven.
How does this relate to blackholes? Well, every now and then a particle pair would appear near the edge of the event horizon of a blackhole - one of the particles may become trapped in the event horizon, while the other one escapes. Because the particle pair has been separated, they are unable to annihilate one another - the particle that escaped the blackhole's event horizon becomes a real particle. For the law of energy conservation to be maintained, the particle that becomes trapped in the blackhole must have "negative energy". This means every time this happens, the blackhole loses some energy - and because E=mc2, this means mass has to be lost from the blackhole.
"Vacuum fluctuation" inevitably reminded me of another, somewhat related article I read a while back concerning something called "quantum entanglement", used for a (possible) future communication method called quantum teleportation. Quantum entanglement has to do with a strange "link" between two particles (entanglement) that determines their mutual state - if one of the particles changes its "spin", the other one will do so as well - [i]instantaneously[/i] - even if the two particles are separated across the galaxy.
Aside from the sheer awe of reading about things like this, I do find myself appreciating science all the more... I've always been a science enthusiast and this kind of stuff really tempts me to go back to school and pursue a scientific degree. xD But really, I think what I am trying to say is... may be sometimes I am too harsh in my opinion of mankind. Despite all the problems the world still has, despite all of mankind's imperfections... we have come this far. On this tiny planet of an insignificant star system, life has arisen and evolved to consciousness after 3 billion years of its humble existence. Reading about the vastness of the universe and the endeavors of courageous explorers and scientists who dared to study and speculate, sometimes even risking their lives to defy social conventions of their time - in order to understand the nature of our cosmos... it's a very humbling feeling, and a reminder of how much talent we humans have within ourselves. Modern science is still in its infancy - having only existed for some 500 years since Galileo; and in this 500 years - a blink of an eye in our 2-million year existence - we have come far. If I were the creator of the universe, I think I would have a certain appreciation for the effort of these tiny creatures on the planet Earth, busying about, digging into the deep mysteries of our universe... questioning the concepts of dimensions and time, sending out space ships to explore their tiny region of the galaxy.
Science is, in my opinion, as close as we humans will get to seeing into the eyes of God. It is our best bet, and wisest. It is not the "easiest" way of thinking, nor the most comforting - the universe is rich in mystery still, and many of the questions held by this generation won't be answered by science in our lifetime. But what is better: To turn away from the pursuit of knowledge and resort to superstitious beliefs for emotional comfort? Or to bravely seek out the answers, even if you may not end up finding them, or if the truth turns out to be disquieting?
I for one do not wish to live in an illusion created by fabrications of men... I am entirely certain that I won't regret not believing in a religion or higher power upon my deathbed; I think each and every one of us should feel honored to have had a chance to live on this Earth, to be able to see and feel and understand the world around us... to be reminded that there is an unbroken chain linking us to the very first stirrings of life on Earth, and even to the atoms produced by long-dead stars... we are all made of "star stuff", we are the consciousness of the universe and a way for the cosmos to know itself... how is that not enough to make anyone happy? :)