'Neutrinos and Why the Earth is No Longer Flat'
By Deepthinker Oh

  'Neutrinos and Why the Earth is No Longer Flat'

By Deepthinker Oh

 Preface

"Everything is true", he said. "Everything anybody has ever thought." Philip K. Dick in "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (1968)

"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick in "How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later" (1978)


Background to the Discussion

Warning: This discussion is not meant to assert that any particular viewpoint or belief is true. The goal is to provide an intellectual exercise into possibilities and potentials.

At one time people thought the world was flat. The Flat Earth Society still exists today (http://theflatearthsociety.org), but in general the notion of a spherical Earth was developed by Greek astronomers beginning perhaps with Parmenides and Pythagoras around 5th/6th century BCE. Columbus, 15th century CE, demonstrated that the world was bigger than he thought, but even he believed it was round.

There is a science fiction story and I have lost all references to the author and title, but the story concerned belief and the physical world. In the story, the shape of the physical world was dependent on what most people believed. So, if most people believed the world was flat, then it indeed was flat. If most believed the sun went around the earth, then it did. As people changed their beliefs the physical world changed. So, when Pythagoras came along and when a certain number of people believed his notions, then the earth changed from flat to round. This is a upside down idea but intriguing for speculation.

Consider another aspect. For almost a century, we have accepted that nothing in the universe can exceed the speed of light. All theoretical physics uses this limitation as the basis of theses and hypotheses. Recently, scientists have measured the speed of some neutrinos and those measured speeds appeared to be faster than the speed of light (Sample, 2011). This result changes the quantum mechanics equation. Well, it does if it can be replicated on a consistent basis. Science likes things to be repeatable before accepting them as true.

But what if, in our desire to reach the stars for colonization, we rebelled at Einstein and came to believe that faster-than-light travel is possible. Further, what if this belief having spread to many people thru novels and popular media has now become so widely desired that a change has occurred and now the speed of light is no longer a limitation?

There is a phenomenon called the "100th monkey" that one might hope gives a smidgen of credence to this notion but it's an urban legend (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundredth_monkey_effect). Also, popular spiritual thought supports the idea that what we think can create reality (See the book and film "The Secret" or Filmore, 1949).


Questions for Our Discussion.

I will ask the questions in turn and ask you all to please take turns in typing your replies. Will others please thoughtfully read each post and formulate a reply or just be attentive. Then, the next person can type their viewpoint. If we pace ourselves, we can develop a rich dialog on each question. When comments appear to have ceased, I will ask the next question. Thank you.

QUESTION ONE: What is true? We can measure all sorts of things, but in the end something is true because we believe it is true. At the bottom of all truth is belief. Would you agree with this statement? How would you prove it to be incorrect?

QUESTION TWO: Spiritual practices have a lot to say about how our beliefs can influence the world around us. Do you believe prayer can change reality? Can what we think change things. How might you prove that prayer has no influence on reality?

QUESTION THREE:  Religions and spiritual practices are based on faith. If that faith is misplaced, why do so many people hold to such beliefs?

QUESTION FOUR: What if we really can go faster than light? What are the potentials. What are the next steps in testing this possibility?

QUESTION FIVE: How might visualization of the seemingly impossible help science to find new areas to explore?


References:

Fillmore, Charles. Atom-Smashing Power of Mind. Unity, US, 1949.
http://shop.unityonline.org/products/B0043

Sample, Ian. Faster than light particles found, claim scientists. Guardian, UK, 9-22-11.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/sep/22/faster-than-light-particles-neutrinos

Palmer, Jason. Faster-than-light neutrino result queried. BBC News, 11-21-11.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15830844