XPost: rec.arts.sf.written   
   From: g@crcomp.net   
      
   rick wrote:   
   >> Don wrote:   
   >>> Michael wrote:   
   >>>> Joel Polowin wrote:   
   >>>>> Ted wrote:   
   >>>>>> That's not the way the Liaden old universe worked.  For instance, the   
   >>>>>> value of Pi was not the same, setting aside a completely different set   
   >>>>>> of stars & planets.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Given that pi can be calculated in multiple ways as the sum of   
   >>>>> mathematical   
   >>>>> converging infinite series, it's hard to see how that could be...   
   >>>>> Archie   
   >>>>> Plutonium's "theories" notwithstanding.  Of course, that's the   
   >>>>> mathematical   
   >>>>> constant, which can differ from the _physical_ value (e.g. the ratio   
   >>>>> between   
   >>>>> the circumference and diameter of a circle) depending on the   
   >>>>> curvature of   
   >>>>> space.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Of course, in anything other than flat, Euclidean space, the ratio   
   >>>> of the circumference of a circle to its diameter is not constant, but   
   >>>> depends on its diameter (at least) and position (in a negatively   
   >>>> curved space, I think).   
   >>>   
   >>> Allow me to use the groups as an adhoc classroom. Let me know if my pi   
   >>> pertinent philosophy shown below doesn't make sense.   
   >>>      The ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter is an   
   >>> observable fact. And accordingly associated with Aristotlean thought.   
   >>>      OTOH, notions of non-Euclidean space are Platonic. And non-   
   >>> Euclidean space Platonically pulls pi apart to the breaking point?   
   >>>   
   >> Purely thought experiment until such time as we can observe   
   >> non-Euclidean space to conduct actual experiments.   
   >   
   > If it's not flat, it's not a "circle" (each point is equidistant from   
   > center)   
      
   Yes. The limitation of man's mind makes men imagine a black hole as   
   a deep depression in flat, 2-D space. But, the thought experiment is   
   cognitive dissonant because 3-D space is directly observable. This   
   is one manifestation of the dilemma of Modern Physics.   
      
       It is the mathematical orthodoxy of the universe that   
       enables theorists like Einstein to predict and discover   
       natural laws simply by the solution of equations. But   
       the paradox of physics today is that with every   
       improvement in its mathematical apparatus the gulf   
       between man the observer and the objective world of   
       scientific description becomes more profound. ...   
      
       The Universe and Dr. Einstein forces, its origins, and   
       its rationality and harmony, tend to avoid using the   
       word God. Yet Einstein, who has been called an atheist,   
       has no such inhibitions. "My religion," he says,   
       "consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable   
       superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight   
       details we are able to perceive with our frail and   
       feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the   
       presence of a superior reasoning power, which is   
       revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my   
       idea of God."   
      
       _The Universe and Dr Einstein_ (Barnett)   
      
   Perhaps a black sphere more closely resembles the reality of   
   3-D space as observed. Yet, who on Earth can imagine an   
   infinitely deep black sphere?   
      
       God is an intelligible sphere whose center is   
       everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.   
      
          
      
   Danke,   
      
   --   
   Don.......My cat's  )\._.,--....,'``.     https://crcomp.net/reviews.php   
   telltale tall tail /,   _.. \   _\  (`._ ,.    Walk humbly with thy God.   
   tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'    Make 1984 fiction again.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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