Donald wrote:
> Moose wrote:
>
>> George Gamow was the major mouthpiece for the expanding universe with a
>> fixed quantity of matter, so density was dropping. Hoyle was said to have
>> coined the term Big Bang as a taunt, to make Gamow & Co. sound silly. Didn't
>> work; he gave the name that stuck to the theory that won.
>>
>
> But old Fred may have the last laugh...
>
> http://www.haltonarp.com/
>
Chuck Norcutt wrote:
> I'm still pulling for Fred and the Steady State. The current theories of
> physics and cosmology are beginning to sound too much like "epicycles".
Oh the risks of finishing composition of anything to post in this
group. :-)
When I said "won", I only meant that particular "battle". Anyone who has
lived a few decades and/or has read about the history of science, ideas
and the world, should know that any such victory will be short lived.
I'm fascinated by the way in which the general population ( there's that
war metaphor again) endlessly chooses to believe that the latest Truth,
be in in astro physics, diets, psychology, nutrition, political
philosophy, and so and, and on, and on, is, in fact ineluctably true,
and will not be replaced by something as likely as not to be completely
different, in the not distant future.
Just in my lifetime, theories of the nature, past and future of the
physical universe have changed significantly several times. The latest
theories seem to me to move from sort of like definition 2. towards a
lot like definition 1. of cosmology in the Merriam Webster dictionary.
----------------------------------
*1 a* *:* a branch of metaphysics that deals with the nature of the
universe *b* *:* a theory or doctrine describing the natural order of
the universe
*2* *:* a branch of astronomy that deals with the origin, structure, and
space-time relationships of the universe; /also/ *:* a theory dealing
with these matters
----------------------------------
Carl Jung spent a lot of time collecting and reading metaphysical texts.
He did so not because they were accurate representations of how natural
processes worked, but for exactly the opposite reason. He believed that
the natural psychological process of projection meant that the writings
of these people about physical processes that were, in fact, a mystery
to them, was pure projection of internal psychic content, and thus a
wonderful place to learn of the internal content and workings of the
human psyche.
I believe the same thing is still true of the creation of theories about
newly discovered data about the physical universe that doesn't conform
to prior theory.
As measurements of the expansion of the universe become more precise,
they are found to vary from what theory predicted. First, it seems to be
slowing. With absolutely no basis for knowing what is causing this,
scientists start to speculate about possible reasons, in an effort to
find a theory to test. However, being human, this speculation is pure
projection. And what do they come up with? Darth Vader's wife! Matter
comes from the same root as mother, mater (of pater and mater),
material, maternal, etc. So the new theory says Dark Matter is the cause.
There is no actual evidence whatsoever of the existence Dark Matter,
nor, when last I checked, and real idea how to test the hypothesis.
Then! More data in. The universe is, according to the latest
experimental data, now expanding faster than expected. Why would that
be? Aha! Dark Energy must be the culprit, with no more evidence or means
of proof that for Dark Matter.
Now I have no dog in this fight, as I don't expect to be present, at
least in this form, when any of this matters. Like Jung, in his
wonderful little book on UFOs, I don't much care whether the phenomenon
is true or not. I am interested in what it says about the collective
psyche at the time the projections are made.
So what's happening in the heavens, where humankind has traditionally
worked out its psycho-spiritual issues? The Dark Mother is working to
pull things together, the traditional role of Goddess, Anima, Yin,
Chalice, Feminine Principle, etc., and the Dark Father is working to
pull things apart, the traditional role of male God, Animus, Yang,
Blade, Masculine Principle, and so on.
That both are "Dark" is psychologically and symbolically significant, as
dark in this context tends to mean something which has come far enough
across the border from the unconscious into the "light" of consciousness
to be sensed as new, but not far enough to be seen with any clarity.
Thus, it appears that the great psycho-spiritual drama emerging in our
times is a reworking out of the endless pulling between these two
principles. A fascinating circumstance, as the last great change in
dominance between them is something like 4,000 years old. Will oen or
the other dominate, as in our past, or will a balance be struck, and a
psychologically much more healthy era emerge?
As to contemporary theories of the fate of the universe, the last I read
said that expansion would continue until the event horizon beyond which
light cannot be seen would eventually isolate each individual star in
darkness. Somehow, that sounds to me more like a projection of
alienation, aloneness and depression than a theory that will last very long.
Moose
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