Post #800 - Mountains and Philosophy

[schrackman]

hi Rick,

ah, so many questions...it's a good thing I like answering questions!

I'll get back to you tomorrow...right now I've got to hit the sack!

Ray

[walterick]

Hey Shrack,

What do you say we take this to PM? Just out of respect for the board.

Rick

[schrackman]

Hey Rick,

Check your email. By the way, you can reply to my email at schrackman@earthlink.net

Ray

[yaronsh]

Getting in late on this discussion...

Supposedly, there are spots near Sedona, AZ, where the earth's electromagnetic field forms a "vortex." People claim to have experienced some sort of spiritual experience when standing in them. Or maybe it's just the kinds of people who go to Sedona seeking vortices to stand in...

Vortices notwithstanding, I think the reason we react as we do to mountains is psychological: They're so obviously vast; this in-your-face vastness makes it difficult not to believe that there is something out there bigger than all of us and bigger than the sum of its parts. Some of us choose to call that thing God. Some of us perceive the experience as a religous one.

Albert Einstein was a deeply religious man. And a violin virtuoso.

A chemical reaction is, fundamentally, an electrical one among sub-atomic particles. And nerve impulses - electrical - travel down a nerve fiber by means of a chemical reaction that opens "protein channels" along the nerve cell membranes, allowing a temporary unbalancing of calcium, sodium, and potassium ions.

Strictly and plainly speaking, "light" is an electromagnetic field whose frequency is within the range we humans perceive visually. We perceive frequencies below that range ("infrared") as heat, and do not perceive higher ones ("ultraviolet").

According to principles of modern physics, everything has both matter and energy (or "wave") characteristics. At low speeds, matter characteristics are more prevalent. At high speeds, energy characteristics are more prevalent. (Generally, the line between "slow" and "fast" is drawn at one tenth the speed of light.) Classical physics speaks of conservation of matter and conservation of energy. Modern physics speaks of conservation of matter/energy together, and transitions between the matter state and energy state are possible. The amount of energy vs. matter contained in an entity is related by the formula E = mc^2 (E = amount of energy, m = amount of matter, c = speed of light). (Really, there's a gamma factor in there as well, which brings time into the equation.)

A dimension, strictly speaking, is basically a factor in a mathematical equation. Classical physics describes objects and motion in terms of length, width, and height. Those are three dimensions. Modern physics states that perceived length (or width or height) depends on speed ("length contraction"); speed is related to time. And time perception depends on speed as well ("time dilation"). So, time enters the equations in a big way - so now there are four dimensions in the equations. Measuring more exotic universal phenomena may involve additional factors in the equations, i.e., additional dimensions.

I grew up in NYC, and turned out very urban. Then I spent some time in Northern California - but remained very urban. Then I moved to Colorado - and that's when the mountains began calling to me, almost literally. I ended up deciding that the big-city Northeast is the place for me after all, and moved to the Boston area - but head out to the New England Appalachians periodically to reconnect with what I had found in Colorado.

My cats give me something that I don't think any human can give indefinitely: Unconditional, unquestioning, complete, constant love. This is true love in its purest sense.

- Yaron