Contrary to the popular saying, it has been scientifically established, that, one can repeatedly do the same thing and get different results. The variable, simply named ‘initial conditions’, always enters into the process and can have a large impact on final results. There is also a condition known as hysteresis which can contribute to unexpected results. Hysteresis is the dependence of the output of a system not only on its current input, but also on its history of past inputs. The dependence arises because the history affects the value of an internal state. To predict its future outputs, either its internal state or its history must be known.
Thinking, Learning and Intelligence
Upon thinking about thinking, without benefit or encumbrance of others thoughts on the subject, I believe I should start by trying to define a simple thinking process. This perhaps could lead to a more encompassing description of thinking. I am taking this approach because, with age, I find it very time consuming to learn something completely new from a quick perusal of concepts that others may have spent a lifetime formulating.
Maybe the simplest act of thinking would be comparison of two items and choosing a subsequent action based on some fixed criterion. So a minimum thinking device may be a circuit that looks at two bits, each of which can be either 1 or 0, and then stores a 1 in a memory cell if the two inputs are alike, else a 0 if the two bits are different. One if by land, two if by sea resulted in a ‘midnight ride’ by Paul Revere. If the two lanterns were not lit, then no action was required. A similar laboratory test using two light bulbs where the being being tested must push a button depending on a prescribed combination of lights on or off would require so little thought that it would seem to be thoughtless. In software:
If both One
Or both Zero
Then write One
Else write Zero
Very simple. Observation, Decision, Action. It would appear from this that the process of deciding constitutes thought. Note that in the software or hardware realization there is no awareness that thinking is occurring.
More complex thinking will be needed if searching, remembering, imagining, planning, interpreting, memorizing, ideation, comprehending, or selecting are undertaken. Since we plan to connect the process of thinking to that of learning, we might as well start including Content Addressable Memory [CAM] into the mix. We will hypothesize a simplified memory in which the address of a storage location is based on a cue associated with the contents. For example an address of brother would store George, Cy, Melvin, Brother Can You Spare a Dime, MaleSibling, etc.
So can we decide the steps needed for a more complex act of thinking required for storing information. The 1st step in our 3 step process: Observation, would include input from various types of sensors; audio, visual, ASCII generators, or perhaps touch panels. The easiest for now would be an ASCII keyboard. To make it even easier for our neophyte processor, our 1st entry will be brother[R].
SCANINSENSORS
IF asciiin
THEN GOTO tempstorasciiin
ELSE
IF audin
THEN GOTO tempstoraud
ELSE
.
.
IF lastsensin
THEN GOTO tempstorlastin
ELSE
GOTO scaninsensors
TEMPSTORASCIIIN
GET asciiin [up to [R] or Space]
SEARCH CAMascii for MATCH
IF nomatch
THEN GOTO writeasaddress
ELSE storinmatchbin
Check for new Input
Examining these two pseudo algorithms we can see that making decisions is fundamental to each. SCANSENSORS decides if there are data present and, if so, where to put it. TEMPSTORASCIIIN decides if the asciiin should be a CAM address or data for an existing CAMascii bin.
A better Input algorithm would recognize words from a keyboard [in this case] when the letter flow is interrupted by a Space or a Return. The CAM also could be pre-addressed by Inputing all the Nouns from a Dictionary. Storing such data would be a part of the concept of Learning, but I believe that recall must be included if something is considered to be learned. [I fear that Learning also implies ‘knowing’ what is known and this gets into the unknown area of Consciousness.]
In this most simplified design if we type in brother George, then ‘brother George’ would be stored in CAMascii address brother. {a better algorithm would be able to ‘strip off’ the redundant ‘brother’.]
It would require a great deal more complexity to store correctly Brother Can You Spare a Dime. This song title would be stored as another brother named Can.
Present day personal computers have the ability to Speak Selected Text. It is beyond my ability to understand the details of how this is accomplished. However, we can imagine calling up the data stored in brother and inputting it into such an application. Recall accomplished! Unconscious Thinking and Learning(?) have occurred on a primitive level.
At this point I will tentatively define Intelligence as an assessment of the degree of Learning that is present in a Thinking system.
There are machines in existence today that are many orders of magnitude in complexity beyond my simple concepts. Are they Thinking?Are they learning? Are they Intelligent? According to my definitions, they undoubtedly are. Are they aware that they are Thinking? I doubt it. Throughout written history humans have wondered about self-awareness and/or consciousness; our ability to witness our environment and our inner-most thoughts and feelings. We can use our awareness to direct our minds to originate and store ideas, to control conscious movement of our limbs and to imagine non-real events. However there are many functions of our brain that involve a degree of thinking that occur below our awareness threshold. An example would be a pianist that has become deaf but can still perform previously learned music. The combinations, timing and sequences of notes being remembered and recalled from ‘muscle memory’ … the fingers seem to have the knowledge. Such performances usually lack what is deemed ‘musicality’ which arises from lack of feedback through aural inputs. Certainly the brain’s ability to correlate sensory inputs contributes to awareness. Seeing a face through facial recognition. Observing the lips moving. Hearing a sound that occurs with each opening of the mouth provides the means by which the brain concludes that the sound it is storing [at least temporarily] is caused by the hole in that face.
So, Rene Descartes’, “I think, therefore, I am”, really should be more like, “I’m aware, therefore, I am.” Thinking alone does not constitute Consciousness.
Mis thorning
The bumming hirds
Arovered hound the poney hot.
I can only imagine what it is like to be able to draw and paint … to move colors around on paper or canvas as I move sound colors around a score. I envy painters in that once they have captured a work on canvas, any one can gaze on it and experience the joy of the artist. A musical score must be performed to be experienced. Recreating a work of art is more than recreation. In many instances in music, it takes as many hours to learn to perform a score as it takes the composer to create it. Unfortunately for composers, hanging a score on the wall does not entice anyone to listen to the music.
Thoughts on a Rainy Day
~1978
I travel to the wood where once
We found flowers and sheltering trees.
You do not find me.
As I walk alone on sand dunes.
You do not see me.
Can withstand the admiring ocean.
You do not tell me.
Joyous response to other’s thoughts.
You can not help me.
And hope for harmonies not yet known.
You do not hear me.
And in moments yet to come
You will not know me
Is there some purpose in creating this Blog and entering all the words and videos from days long past … I guess it is an attempt to leave some trace of my life behind … an auto-Obituary that will exist as long as Google allows. My web site at HenryWarner.info will last only as long as I pay for the Domain name and site. It does contain some additional information … but most of the music is at both sites.
Sitting at the computer, I feel perfectly normal … a feeling that vanishes quickly when I try to do even the most menial of tasks. So I spend a lot of my time at the computer [and sleeping, now that I’m reducing the amount of prednisone I take]. My efforts to gradually improve my physical condition no longer result in a noticeable improvement … so the hope is that it delays further loss of ability. I have found that as one enters the latter part of our lives, we gradually adapt to our changing condition, making each day an acceptable gift … BUT! When pain enters the equation, everything changes.
Sitting at the computer, I feel perfectly normal … a feeling that vanishes quickly when I try to do even the most menial of tasks. So I spend a lot of my time at the computer [and sleeping, now that I’m reducing the amount of prednisone I take]. My efforts to gradually improve my physical condition no longer result in a noticeable improvement … so the hope is that it delays further loss of ability. I have found that as one enters the latter part of our lives, we gradually adapt to our changing condition, making each day an acceptable gift … BUT! When pain enters the equation, everything changes.
... upon Googleling turritopsis, I found that I wasn't completely satisfied or envious of the process of rejuvenation. What we hope for in eternal life is a continuity of our 'awareness' ... the array of magical connections in our brains that make us, us ... what many refer to as their soul. Our way of rejuvenating is quite pleasurable ... at least in moments ... but the survival of our genes does not carry with it our self-awareness. Even identical twins are isolated in their own awareness. .... so what is a jellyfish aware of?
I suspect that any form of rejuvenation implies losing those connections! So some of us place note after note or word after word on paper to try and record our 'hookup' ... this is no more successful than having oneself bronzed on horseback in the Plaza.
Some Thoughts
Their Whence Unknown
Abstinence is the strangest perversion of all ....
Hypocrisy is the lubricant of a civilized society.
Nothing is Simple.
Pain is like a bad neighbor, always with you.
I think of the past and I burst out: laughing? crying?
New & Used Antiques.
Even victors are by victory undone.
Yes, today is better than yesterday!
The joy is in the doing, not the finishing.
Love loses it's energy .... it's no one's fault.
Denial is not a river in Egypt.
Mendacity
Adventure is for the brainless ... or should be ....
I have no taste for parting.
One definition of stupidity: Doing the same thing you've always done... and expecting different results.
A truly wise man never plays leapfrog with a Unicorn.
and from this day, I will see you no more, that smile will fade from memory.
People who read Tabloids deserve to be lied to.
I am what I do.
An Essay of Conjecture
Truth
As human beings we each observe our world around us and eventually arrive at beliefs concerning what is the Truth. These observations may be supplied by our own senses or by communications with family, friends, and teachers... and also by the now omnipresent advertising media programs known as Cable or Network News. We are happiest when the truths that we arrive at essentially agree with the beliefs of others around us. The more people that agree with our own views, the more likely we will be convinced that we know the truth. In essence, we vote on the truth! Unfortunately, such consensus does not alter what the real Truth may be.... but, importantly, we are happy.
Communication
At some stage in the evolution of mankind, we developed the means and ability to vocalize many unique sounds. Perhaps simultaneously, or as a result of this development, we also developed portions of our brain which could recognize and catalog these diverse sounds. Further, we found that we could associate remembered sounds with things and ideas both concrete and abstract. This ability for verbal communication and for abstract
thinking separated and differentiated mankind from the other forms of animal life on our planet. It was and is our most powerful ability. The association of oral sounds with visual images led to the development of written languages, first in the form of crude pictures and more recently, in the development of alphabetic descriptions of sounds. The ability to record one’s thoughts and pass them along to others had an enormous impact on the knowledge that could be accumulated by mankind as a whole. Remember though ... knowledge is not necessarily the Truth.
Time
We learned to ‘measure’ the length of an object, first by directly comparing it with another object [will this carcass fit in that hole?]. To compare the ‘size’ of two objects that could not be compared directly [due to size and separation] we learned to use a stick [or the size of one’s foot] which could be carried from one object to the other for comparison purposes. We came up with ‘standard sticks’ which were chosen to be the same as the length covered by placing one foot in front of the other 3 times. etc., etc. We became aware that some events seemed to repeat, sometimes apparently endlessly. The sun arose each morning and set each evening. We breathed in and then out. Water dripped from a rock, drop after drop. Plants sprouted, bloomed and died. We even concluded that people are born, live, grow old and die... even though the period for these events is similar to the observation period. Note: Using ‘period’ and ‘duration’ is a feeble attempt to avoid using the word ‘time’ which is being investigated. ‘Scientifically’, period is defined as the reciprocal of time and duration is the ‘start’ time subtracted from the ‘end’ time.
What I am attempting to elucidate and to simplify is our use of the concept of ‘time’. We don’t say, “ I’ll be there in 3 miles”... but we could. If we know that we’re going to walk to the meeting, we do a simple conversion and say, “I’ll be there in 45 minutes”... knowing from past experience that placing one foot in front of the other 1760 times would take about 15 ‘minutes’ [not yet defined!]. Measuring the ‘distance’ between events which occur repeatedly requires only two things. One, the concept of counting; i.e., how many objects are there in a group [or how many events occurred during an observation], and two, a ‘stick’ in the form of another periodic series of events which can be counted.
Digressing ... there is an observable order of events that occurs in some ‘clocks’. A pendulum [motivated by a synchronized magnetic tug or the ratcheted kick of a wound spring] seems to depict time in an everlasting, eternal way. But if it is not given rejuvenating upkeep after some great number of cycles, its bearings will wear out. Also, if the magnetic impulse needed to maintain the pendulum’s momentum is not fed by some energy source, it cannot continue to motivate and the pendulum will ‘die’. Its body may still exist, but its ‘soul’ is gone. Of course, in this simplest of cases, we can rejuvenate the pendulum and give it a renewed ‘life’ by rewinding the spring. ‘Biological clocks’, the growth and death of a living organism, should be considered to be a clock only on the basis of the statistics of a group, since the individual event is irreversible [so far as is known] and thus not repeatable for counting. The characteristic that made the pendulum [in all its various forms] such a useful clock is that it was determined that the period of a pendulum, in any given location, was not affected by its weight or the amplitude of its swing. The period of a pendulum depends only upon its length! Atomic clocks depend upon ‘vibrations’ which occur normally or which can be stimulated within atoms and have the trait of occurring much more rapidly than macro oscillators. Thus duration of other events can be expressed more accurately in terms of the shorter timing periods, just as a distance can be measured more accurately if we can di- vide our measuring stick into smaller sections.
The most important attribute to realize about all of these methods of measurement of ‘time’ is, that they are completely independent of what is being measured and of each other. The fact that a plant may sprout, bloom, wither and die in 3,888,000 swings of a pendulum or 45 days or 1.5 moons does not mean that if we stop the pendulum the plant will live ‘forever’! And if we swing the pendulum such that it decrements rather than increments a counter, the plant does not arise, withered from its mulch, grow younger and un-sprout into a seed. We are counting backwards according to what we have named the numbers, but really we are just counting the swings of a pendulum. So time is only a way of measuring the progress of events, it does not effect nor affect these events in any way. Thus Time can be thought of as a particular event in the number of occurrences of repetitious events to one occurrence of another; i.e., a year in a life or a second in a day. It is a number, not a vector. It has no direction.
Fortunately, since mathematics can be used to describe anything [perhaps due to mistakes or inaccurate assumptions], observation of the results of theories has allowed incorrect concepts to be weeded out. To say that the predictions of a theorem are not observable [directly or indirectly] is to say that it can not be proven. There is no reason for an unobservable and un-sensed phenomenon to be proposed except as a posit for our imaginations. Some correspondence with observable phenomena must guide our applications of the games with numbers. Indeed, there is evidence that man’s numerical devices become as complex as the system which they seek to describe. We may hope to dimly perceive all the consequences of some logical mathematical description of macro phenomena, but can we really think that there will ever [in the foreseeable future] be enough brain cells in any human to describe the universe in it’s infinite variety.
Religion
Mankind appears to be the only creature that invents religions. This fact perhaps implies that, in addition to an innate need for recognition from a respected or superior being and a curiosity and wondering at the environment in which we find ourselves, written and oral communications have provided the means for the cultivation of religious ideas. Legend tells of many phenomena being worshiped or idolized at various times.
In prehistoric eras one can imagine that the person that was strongest physically was likely to be the leader of any group. But one can also imagine that a more imaginative person in the group could carve out a position of power by being able to communicate with whatever ‘supernatural event’ was causing the greatest fear to the group. One might conclude that these shamans were the earliest medical doctors and scientists. They used various herbs to effect cures of their subjects and used trances brought on by drums, dancing, or ingesting hallucinogens to enter the ‘spirit world’. Astronomy arose out of ages of sages [I couldn’t resist it] recording and studying the nature of the more benign gods, the sun and the moon.
Most extant religions teach the practice of kindness to one another, but each then imply that ‘salvation’ or a ‘life in the hereafter’ can be achieved only by the members of the group. The survival instinct seems to be a trait of most creatures that experience self-awareness, thus making each subject to some aspects of religious practice. Each religion soon invents its own Truths and become intolerant of others that have accepted different Truths. Fanaticism follows the drive for survival.
It probably will not be possible at mankind’s present intellectual state to practice a universal religion which teaches to all the best ideas of past religions. Most ‘commandments’ really teach how man can best get along with mankind, rather than how to please some indescribable and unknowable God.
Cosmos
Cosmos is defined by the Washington DC Teaching Center as:
The universe conceived as an orderly, harmonious system; a complex orderly self-inclusive system. All that exists in time and space including spectra of light, forces of bodies, cycles of the elements - life, intelligence, memory, record and dimensions beyond physical perception - mathematically calculated as the evidence of things not seen as yet, but which do appear in the Spirit cosmos that coexists with and interpenetrates the Matter cosmos as a grid of light.
WOW!
We exist, as far as we can tell, in a setting that leads to our concepts of space and time. We have not comprehended, and perhaps can not, the initial conditions. We have concepts of ‘start’ and ‘end’ ... or ‘edge’ and ‘extent’, but in our experience, these concepts imply a ‘before’ and ‘after’, and what lies beyond observed boundaries. We have the enigmas of trying to conceive of space without boundaries, of something being created out of nothing, and envisioning how it all started! It seems that no matter the geometry one imagines, someone else can ask .... “what is beyond that?” We run into a similar situation with our numbering system. In essence it has no limits, One can always add ‘one’ to the largest imaginable number and get a larger one ... or even more numbing, multiply Infinity by itself, etc. We can hypothesize that there was no beginning ... that the universe has existed forever, but such ideas bring little satisfaction to our logic. One can speculate that we are but minor particles in the universe that itself is just part of a larger system, or that the cosmos is but a huge oscillator continuously moving from a state of pure energy to one of pure mass. This just postpones the quandary by adding more layers, since whence the mass or
the energy? There seems to be no satisfactory explanation within our present knowledge base. A mouse can peruse, study, and even devour a book on calculus and never have the slightest grasp of its concepts. We seem similarly handicapped when trying to understand the universe. But is it a permanent condition? The human brain at its present state of evolving can indeed grasp concepts that are much more complex than those held by primitive cultures. Each generation builds on the knowledge base of the preceding generation. If one were to plot some average knowledge level of humans over the centuries, it would probably follow an exponential curve. At some point, due to brain size, the steep rise of the curve would flatten out .... unless something else happens. Normal evolution occurs through natural and accidental occurrences, but we may be at a point where we begin to take part in increasing the rate of ‘good’ changes. If genetic engineering proceeds and finds ways to remove bad traits and emphasize good ones, a rapid expansion of brain power can be expected. Is there a ‘need’ by the universe for humans to follow such a path? Perhaps. One question that occurs to nearly everyone throughout history is, “why are we here?” No one has a provable answer. If we accept the concept of most religions that we serve at God’s pleasure, then we can make a mighty leap to the concept that we are performing exactly the function for which we were designed by this Supreme Being. That function could be something as simple as a time constant. We may be a built-in delay for exploding the planet or failing that, use up all of its resources and become a dead mini-star. The example of plants spreading their seed before they die may mirror our first feeble attempts to explore our solar system. We may find in the future that it is more practical to send our DNA rather than cumbersome rocket ships carrying people. At that point we may have a better idea of what we should be trying to accomplish. Regardless of what the Truth of our function is, the concept offers the comfort that we, indeed, may be doing just what we are supposed to do.
These ideas are not satisfactory to the human individual. The individual wants to know why s/he is here, not why humans are here. It may be that we each are but part of a ‘support system’ for the most brilliant of our group to go on and achieve our intended purpose. We are a Team! If only an ‘Intelligent Mold’.
HenryLeeWarner 2006
More Conjecture
The past two centuries have produced tremendous progress in our understanding of nature; unfortunately, each new concept is usually accompanied by paradoxes. In the 19th Century, the experimental and theoretical work uncovered the basic forces and electromagnetic radiation. One could then describe and predict the effects of these forces, but their mechanisms are still a mystery. Efforts by Michelson and Morley [MM] to detect a medium suitable to support the propagation of electromagnetic waves failed. This seeming lack of a media, along with puzzling photoelectric experiments, led theoreticians in the 20th Century to propose a particle model for light. So instead of a vibrating atom on the sun shaking an aether which propagates as a wave, it must emit a physical particle having no mass that could move at the speed of light. OK!? At this point we should be reevaluating how a light wave could manage to eject electrons in a photoelectric material and ask if the Michelson-Morley experiment really did show that there is no aether.
Let’s try some new ‘thought experiments’ in which we compare methods of detecting a medium for sound and for light. In the case of sound in our atmosphere, it can be described as a disturbance of the molecules which make up the atmosphere, which, due to coupling between these molecules results in propagation of the disturbance. [Fortunately we have chemical means of deter- mining that our medium exists.] First consider a sound experiment set up in a moving boxcar. Sound propagated in the direction the train is moving and in the direction perpendicular to this motion would be found to have the same speed if determined by travel time between an emitter and a receiver. This may lead to a conclusion that there is no medium if we didn’t already know that air exists. In the MM experiment, light leaving the source travels at the speed, c, determined by the medium and is reflected back with no Doppler shift since the receiver [a mirror] is moving at the same speed [earth’s rotation and movement around the sun, etc.] and the orthogonal beam is also propagated at speed, c, with no Doppler since it is at a right angle to the motion of the experiment. The experiments failed to find any motion through a medium and thus was thought to mean that there is no medium. However, if the sound experiment is conducted on a moving flatcar, a different result would be observed than that within the boxcar. If the experiment is set up to measure one-way path propagation time then a longer time will be measured for the forward direction compared to the orthogonal direction due to motion through the medium, thus establishing the presence of a medium. But if the experiment is set up using a two-way path; i.e., sound transmitted and returned from a reflector or transponder back to the source, then the effect of medium motion cancels out. A two-way path experiment will not detect medium wind. The optical experiments should be done again using one-way measurements ... and definitely not in a dark cave.
The apparent failure to show the effect of motion through an aether and the lack of an explanation for the ejection of electrons from some metals brought about the new theories on the nature of light. It is likely that mathematics can be invented to describe almost anything ... natural or un-natural. It is therefore very important that mathematical predictions in science be confirmed by careful experiments. Einstein and his contemporaries made use of intricate mathematics and ‘thought experiments’ to arrive at a whole new description of our physi- cal world. Some of the findings seem basic and important ... and some seem to be whimsical descriptions required by the mathematics and can lead to signifi- cant paradoxes. The basic tenet of Relativity is that all motion is relative and that the speed of light in a vacuum has a constant value that nothing can exceed. These are concepts that most can accept as being logical and measurable. But further proposals seem to lack credibility; i.e.: 1) The mass of a body increases and its length [in the direction of motion] shortens as its speed increases. 2) The time interval between two events occurring in a moving body appears greater to a stationary observer. 3) Mass and energy are equivalent and interconvertible. 4) Forces resulting from acceleration and gravity are similar and could be considered identical if one considers them as curvatures in a space-time continuum. These conclusions lead to many paradoxes, some of which are:
- 1) two space ships moving at a different velocity on parallel paths, each with an originally synchronized clock, will experience: a) space ship x will ob- serve that space ship y is moving and that its clock is slow [this is due to the finite time needed to ask for and receive the clock information]; however, simultaneously space ship y will observe that it is space ship x that is moving and that its clock is slow. b) since space ship x’s clock is slow, space man y believes that space man x is aging at a slower rate, but space man x concludes the same for space man y.
- 2) the effects of gravitation and acceleration on clocks. It is perhaps a mistake to lump all ‘clocks’, i.e., pendulums, living cells, atomic, etc., into one class. The effects of motion and gravity on each may not be the same. One can envision that a pendulum suspended by a string would change its timing, at least temporarily, if it is moved suddenly [accelerated]. And if in deep space, absent gravity, a pendulum would not swing but would continue to rotate in the deflected direction. Atomic clocks are known to be affected by accelerations but yield stable operation under constant [earth’s rotation and orbital] acceleration. Thought should be given to whether acceleration and deceleration have opposite effects on a given clock ... so that a space flight from earth to some point and return involving 2 accelerations and 2 decelerations may completely cancel any changes in the clock resulting from any single change in velocity. Actually, instead of an astronaut aging at a slower rate due to ‘changes in his clocks’, it has been observed that spaceflight has many negative effects on the body. The most serious changes being muscle atrophy and skeletal deterioration.
3) The development of nuclear power plants and weapons has demonstrated conversion of mass to energy using certain elements. On a cruder scale the burning of flammable materials also converts mass to energy. The conversion of energy to mass has not yet been demonstrated ... except in the minds of the newest religious group, the Cosmologists. Their thesis is that “In the Beginning” everything started with an enormous explosion of Energy which throughout billions of years has resulted in the creation of all the massive bodies in the Universe. As stated earlier, Truth may be in anything that one can imagine, but we probably need to evolve a lot longer before we really can discern what is the real Truth. One of results of the ‘Big Bang’ theory is the need that the universe be expanding. Some recent findings seem to indicate that this expansion is increasing. This requires the creation of a new unknown source of energy which has been labeled, ‘Dark Energy’. In 1929, astronomer Edwin Hubble observed a Doppler redshift in the spectra of particular stars which was interpreted as confirmation that the universe was expanding. However, the same redshifts would be observed in a collapsing universe if one postulates that acceleration of each body increases as it approaches the center of collapse. This model obviates the need for Dark Energy.
Fortunately whenever any research goes into a blind alley it is only a matter of time before it has to back out and find a new way to progress. Paradoxes lead the way!
hlwarner January 2014
It all begins with the inability of Michelson and Morley [MM] to detect the presence or lack of an æther suitable for conducting waves of electromagnetic information. Many similar and more refined experiments that followed also failed. Hence, the founding of a new direction in physics and cosmology based on a dual nature for light and similar electromagnetic radiation. There is possibly a basic flaw in all of the experiments ... use of a two-way path for the light. If so, further thought and experimental work is needed to confirm the presence or absence of an æther.
The use of three ‘Thought Experiments’ can help in showing the error:
First: Using a small boat that travels at some fixed speed to represent a pulse of light. If the boat is traveling at 10 mph and starts up a river that is flowing at 1 mph, an observer with a clock would observe that it takes the boat longer than an hour to reach a 10 mile marker. If the boat then turns around and goes downstream to the 0 mile marker, it will arrive after 2 hours. So if the timer clock was not read at the 10 mile marker it would be assumed that there was no motion of the water. But if the times were recorded at both markers, it becomes evident that there is movement of the media.
Second: On a moving flat-car, set up a sound projector and two receivers ... one receiver in the direction of motion of the train and the other orthogonal to the motion. It will be observed that a projected sound will arrive later at the forward receiver than at the side receiver due to motion of the media during the propagation time. However. if reflectors are used rather than receiving microphones and a microphone is placed adjacent to the projector, the ‘round-trip’ time for both the forward and the orthogonal paths will be the same.
Third: If a similar sound experiment is conducted, but this time using a boxcar, then there will be no motion of the air with respect to the test equipment and no time differences would be observed.
Conclusions: Tests to determine if there is an æther-like medium through which the earth is moving should use one-way path measurements and such tests should probably not be in a cave.
The problems in making such measurements using light are many and certainly could not have been done in the late 1880’s when MM were making their efforts.
For one-way path experiments over usable path lengths the timer clock will be a primary problem.
One possibility for a new test design is depicted in Figure 1., which uses two sensors aligned and set a distance, d, from a beam splitter. The sensor response is conducted to a clock by two cables [wire or fiber] having equal delays, from which Start Timer and Stop Timer commands are issued. If there is an æther and if the sensor mounts are aligned with the expected motion, then a time difference should be detectable. The reason for a ‘downwind’ path to start the timer comes from the very complex motion that the earth may present to any propagating medium, so that a non-zero clock time might be detected in almost any direction. Earth’s rotation [~465 m/s], earth’s orbit around the sun [~30 km/s], and the solar system’s motion around its galaxy would certainly be factors. There is no attempt to ascribe attributes to a possible æther medium other than to assume a constant speed of propagation of radiation in all directions for any uniform portion of the medium.
Initial calculations based on Figure 1., using d = 2 meters, V(earth) = 30 km/s,
C(air) = 2.9970 x 108, yields a time difference of 1.33596 picoseconds. If the speed of propagation is constant, then such a time difference could be interpreted to show that the sensors had moved by ~0.4 mm through a medium during the Start and Stop interval.
Discussion
My sincere apologies are extended to George Dowling and, possibly, Ralph Berry and any others who may have wasted valuable time considering the ideas of an old man enjoying the aura of prednisone. The very last sentence that I added to my ‘little paper’ on ‘Errors’ awoke me to the fact that the design for a one-way path method of showing the presence or absence of an æther was a complete failure.
In the case of sound propagation in gasses, liquids and solids we are most fortunate in the fact that the media are identifiable by independent physical and chemical means. There seems to be no such help in the search for a ‘magical goo’ capable of coupling and transmitting all of the known forces that still ‘act at a distance’ in the most mysterious ways.
When I realized that the light pulse [in Figure 1.], once emitted and traveling at its proper speed through the medium, was independent of the earth’s motion and that the sensors were indeed in motion and, in the ‘upwind’ case, moving away from the light. So the experiment would really just determine earth’s motion after setting loose a pulse of light. The believers in the mass-less, charge-less ‘particle’ that can travel ‘at the speed of light’ and spread out in all directions from a vibrating atom can properly say that photons would act in the same way. Hence, the test failed. It would show, however, we do need to be aware of the earth’s motion in any light speed measurements.
hlw 16 April 2014
When I Found You
I never cease to wonder
At things both large and small,
The sound of mountain thunder
Or synchronized cicadas call,
At complexities of atoms chained
By forces beyond comprehension,
How tides by moon and sun are reigned
And minds conceive a fifth dimension
Or, how night escapes the speed of light
And even stars obey geometry.
Yet no miracle is half so bright
As love found when I met thee.
For many years now I have put notes on a page in the hope that others would, as I, find them interesting when heard. But no one could hear them … as I was not designed to be a performer. I welcomed the computer, first as a tool, then gradually over time it evolved as an instrument more powerful than most others in performing music. But it still lacks the secret of the human performer … the ability to make its audience synchronize with the performer … in essence becoming the performer themselves in their own mind. As when a Jimmy Durante struts across a stage, shaking his head, and singing in a very non-musical voice … we lock in, we sync with each gesture and enjoy our ability to perform as he does. Video can help, but is not the same, and indeed it can overpower the music in some instances. In movies music certainly adds to the emotion of a scene, but it is actually designed by the composer to support but not overwhelm the attention of the viewer. In ballet, if one listens to a recording of the music, it can be on par with symphonies, but it is hardly remembered when viewed with a ballet corps in action.
Now, as should be expected, the generations following me have little or no interest in the kind of music I strove to create and since I, myself, can no longer hear well enough to enjoy the harmony, the melody, the timbre of the sounds, the form and structure of a work … I am, in a way, lost. I sometimes regret the many hours I spent striving to get a sound to obey me and to put it all together in recordings meant mainly for friends and family … what they needed was performance.
I've always known that my potential audience was very small. Musicians with similar interests are more likely to be rivals than admirers. Those who have worked on projects and performances together with me, enjoyed the mutual events … but have now mostly disappeared. As have I.
It is obvious that music evolves. It goes through periods where particular styles enjoy great acceptance but, in time each loses its popularity … usually when all attempts at further originality fail. J.S.Bach so thoroughly exploited the chorale and polyphonic styles of the period that the only way his talented sons could compose anything new was to reject the old. The 'Big Band' era evolved from Blues to Ballades to intricate dance pieces and finally into the oblivion of loud repetitions of nonsense … to be replaced by the gentle guitar wired to kilowatt amplifiers. [Evolution 'happens', it is not always right!]
When the first large orchestras came into service they were supported by Kings and Churches. People expected to experience 'new' music at performances as there was little or no existing orchestral music. Most would have few opportunities in their lifetime to attend such performances. Today with the advent of recording and the existence of many great orchestras, every work by many great composers have been recorded and available for listening as often as desired. This has become a major problem for the modern composer. In order to compose something new, present composers must stretch the limits of past forms, harmonies, rhythms, and instrumentation. However, the patrons and audiences want to hear something familiar, not something that they can't get their emotional 'hooks' into. So we have the paradox of having the most orchestras with the most talented musicians performing the least new music. Probably, in time, this will result in the demise of most of the large orchestras … but … then it could be that attending a Symphonic Orchestra concert would be an experience for a lifetime!
I will miss hearing what comes next!
On Change
Now, as should be expected, the generations following me have little or no interest in the kind of music I strove to create and since I, myself, can no longer hear well enough to enjoy the harmony, the melody, the timbre of the sounds, the form and structure of a work … I am, in a way, lost. I sometimes regret the many hours I spent striving to get a sound to obey me and to put it all together in recordings meant mainly for friends and family … what they needed was performance.
I've always known that my potential audience was very small. Musicians with similar interests are more likely to be rivals than admirers. Those who have worked on projects and performances together with me, enjoyed the mutual events … but have now mostly disappeared. As have I.
It is obvious that music evolves. It goes through periods where particular styles enjoy great acceptance but, in time each loses its popularity … usually when all attempts at further originality fail. J.S.Bach so thoroughly exploited the chorale and polyphonic styles of the period that the only way his talented sons could compose anything new was to reject the old. The 'Big Band' era evolved from Blues to Ballades to intricate dance pieces and finally into the oblivion of loud repetitions of nonsense … to be replaced by the gentle guitar wired to kilowatt amplifiers. [Evolution 'happens', it is not always right!]
When the first large orchestras came into service they were supported by Kings and Churches. People expected to experience 'new' music at performances as there was little or no existing orchestral music. Most would have few opportunities in their lifetime to attend such performances. Today with the advent of recording and the existence of many great orchestras, every work by many great composers have been recorded and available for listening as often as desired. This has become a major problem for the modern composer. In order to compose something new, present composers must stretch the limits of past forms, harmonies, rhythms, and instrumentation. However, the patrons and audiences want to hear something familiar, not something that they can't get their emotional 'hooks' into. So we have the paradox of having the most orchestras with the most talented musicians performing the least new music. Probably, in time, this will result in the demise of most of the large orchestras … but … then it could be that attending a Symphonic Orchestra concert would be an experience for a lifetime!
I will miss hearing what comes next!
Michelson’s Error
First: Using a small boat that travels at some fixed speed to represent a pulse of light. If the boat is traveling at 10 mph and starts up a river that is flowing at 1 mph, an observer with a clock would observe that it takes the boat longer than an hour to reach a 10 mile marker. If the boat then turns around and goes downstream to the 0 mile marker, it will arrive after 2 hours. So if the timer clock was not read at the 10 mile marker it would be assumed that there was no motion of the water. But if the times were recorded at both markers, it becomes evident that there is movement of the media.
Second: On a moving flat-car, set up a sound projector and two receivers ... one receiver in the direction of motion of the train and the other orthogonal to the motion. It will be observed that a projected sound will arrive later at the forward receiver than at the side receiver due to motion of the media during the propagation time. However. if reflectors are used rather than receiving microphones and a microphone is placed adjacent to the projector, the ‘round-trip’ time for both the forward and the orthogonal paths will be the same.
Third: If a similar sound experiment is conducted, but this time using a boxcar, then there will be no motion of the air with respect to the test equipment and no time differences would be observed.
Conclusions: Tests to determine if there is an æther-like medium through which the earth is moving should use one-way path measurements and such tests should probably not be in a cave.
For one-way path experiments over usable path lengths the timer clock will be a primary problem.
One possibility for a new test design is depicted in Figure 1., which uses two sensors aligned and set a distance, d, from a beam splitter. The sensor response is conducted to a clock by two cables [wire or fiber] having equal delays, from which Start Timer and Stop Timer commands are issued. If there is an æther and if the sensor mounts are aligned with the expected motion, then a time difference should be detectable. The reason for a ‘downwind’ path to start the timer comes from the very complex motion that the earth may present to any propagating medium, so that a non-zero clock time might be detected in almost any direction. Earth’s rotation [~465 m/s], earth’s orbit around the sun [~30 km/s], and the solar system’s motion around its galaxy would certainly be factors. There is no attempt to ascribe attributes to a possible æther medium other than to assume a constant speed of propagation of radiation in all directions for any uniform portion of the medium.
C(air) = 2.9970 x 108, yields a time difference of 1.33596 picoseconds. If the speed of propagation is constant, then such a time difference could be interpreted to show that the sensors had moved by ~0.4 mm through a medium during the Start and Stop interval.
Discussion
In the case of sound propagation in gasses, liquids and solids we are most fortunate in the fact that the media are identifiable by independent physical and chemical means. There seems to be no such help in the search for a ‘magical goo’ capable of coupling and transmitting all of the known forces that still ‘act at a distance’ in the most mysterious ways.
When I realized that the light pulse [in Figure 1.], once emitted and traveling at its proper speed through the medium, was independent of the earth’s motion and that the sensors were indeed in motion and, in the ‘upwind’ case, moving away from the light. So the experiment would really just determine earth’s motion after setting loose a pulse of light. The believers in the mass-less, charge-less ‘particle’ that can travel ‘at the speed of light’ and spread out in all directions from a vibrating atom can properly say that photons would act in the same way. Hence, the test failed. It would show, however, we do need to be aware of the earth’s motion in any light speed measurements.
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