natural theology

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vol III Development:

Chapter 2: Model

page 6: Invisibility

A lot happens in the world that we do not see. This is perhaps must obvious in the field of human relations, where it is often very hard to tell what another person is thinking. These problems are probably most intense in the areas of love and politics. Do you love me? How can I make you love me? Are you really on my side? Why did you stab me in the back, etc, etc.

A similar level of uncertainty exists at all other scales, greater and smaller that the human individual. One of the most surprising discoveries of twentieth century physics is the uncertainty principle which holds at the quantum mechanical level in the physical network, our most fundamental theory of the Universe. The Born Rule is a quantum mechanical representation of this uncertainty. Born rule - Wikipedia

Until the advent of quantum mechanics, physicists were generally inclined to believe that the world was deterministic. They still attribute determinism to the invisible process that underlies quantum observations, but they now have to accept that even though this process may be deterministic, it does not determine the the actual outcome of events, but rather the relative frequencies of the various outcomes that may result from a particular event. Laplace's demon - Wikipedia

Limited resolution

Uncertainty can arise from three sources. The first is limited resolution. When we measure the diagonal of a unit square with a relatively precise instrument like a micrometer, we might see that it is 1.4142 units, an approximation to √2. With a ruler graduated in units, on the other hand the best we could say that the length is somewhere between 1 and 2. Measurement uncertainty - Wikipedia

We know that the physical Universe is graduated or pixellated in units of Planck's constant, the measure of the smallest action, the minimum possible event. This is the limit of the resolution at which we can study action in the world, and because it is imprecise details are invisible and the prediction of the nature and occurrence of particular actions is uncertain. Planck constant - Wikipedia

What is not uncertain is the exact nature of the action, because it is coupled to Planck's constant. When an electron moves from one orbital to another in an atom it emits or absorbs a photon with one quantum of angular momentum and the electron involved changed its orbital angular momentum by one unit also, in the opposite direction because angular momentum or action is conserved. Using quantum electrodynamics, we can sometimes compute the energy change associated with this transition to many decimal places, and there is no reason to suspect that it is not an exact constant of nature. It may be that in nature values like the Planck constant are implements with unlimited precision. If is for this reason that we can construct atomic clocks accurate to one second in the age of the universe. Photon - Wikipedia, W. F. McGrew et al: Atomic clock performance enabling geodesy below the centimetre level

Invisibility

The second source of uncertainty is invisibility. We cannot see the underlying quantum mechanical process involved in the atomic emission and absorption of photons, for instance, so we our knowledge of this is speculative rather than observational.

The fixed points of a quantum dynamic system are revealed by the eigenvalue equation: MΨ = mΨ, where m is an eigenvalue corresponding to an eigenvector Ψ of the operator M, often called the measurement operator. The measurement operator models the extraction of information from the quantum system measured. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors - Wikipedia, Jim Branson: Eigenvalue Equations

It took physicists nearly thirty years, from 1900 to the late 1920s, to bring quantum mechanics to its definitive form. An important step forward was made by Heisenberg who pointed out that our only task is to explain the observable phenomena. We need not be bound by the classical historical picture of the world but are free to explore all possibilities to find satisfactory explanations. Werner Heisenberg: Quantum-theoretical re-interpretation of kinematic and mechanical relations

Why can't we see the mechanism that yields these results? Here we are proposing that the Universe is digital 'to the core'. We understand this by analogy with computer networks like the internet, and there we find an explanation for the invisibility of process and the visibility of the results of processes. We asume that the observable fixed points in the Universe are the states of halted computers and the invisible dynamic of the Universe are executed by invisible computers. We suspect the presence of deterministic digital computers because of the precision with which nature determines the eigenvalues of various observations. Bastin & Kilmister: Combinatorial Physics

We have all become quite familiar with computers and computer networks over the last few decades. On this site we use the internet as the inspiration for a model of the world. The internet is a space of computers all of which can exchange information with one another and so alter one another's internal states. This becomes most obvious when malicious software takes a computer out of the control of its owner.

We are modelling the Universe as a layered communication network. The lowest layer in such networks is the physical layer, which handles the formation and transport of the physical symbols that carry information. The modern foundation of physics is quantum mechanics which describes the dynamics of the physical Universe. We will take up the study of quantum mechanics in detail in chapter 4. Here we are interested on just one point: that quantum mechanical observables are the fixed points of the universal dynamics. Tanenbaum: Computer Networks

We use networks through a user interface which might be a computer or telephone. The interface enables us to transmit and receive data to from and the network. Behind the interfaces is the system which transmits data from one interface to another, the coding and switching network.

The work that goes on between the user interfaces is invisible or transparent to us. We do not become aware of it unless it breaks down and we need to understand it to fix it. From a physical point of view, the user interface of the world is the space-time in which we live. The messages we receive from the Universe are written in spacetime, and we act in spacetime to send messages back to the Universe.

The processing behind the scenes is invisible to us because a computer cannot both do something and describe to a bystander everything that it is doing. The reason for this is that there is very little difference between computation and communication. The purpose of a communication to transmit a state or form (like this document) from one point in spacetime to another point in the future causal cone of the starting point, without error. This is formally what a computer does, transforming an input given to it at one point in spacetime to an output to be found at another.

If a computer is to explain what it is doing, it must interrupt what it is doing task and turn to the communication task, another computation. This computation must also be communicated, requiring another computation, and so on without end, so that the initial task will never be completed.

We can see this feature of a communication network at work in the classical quantum mechanical two slit experiment, described in detail by Feynman. When we fire particles at a barrier with two slits and do not check which slit the particle goes through, we get an interference pattern. If we make a measurement to check which slit the particle went through, however, we lose the interference pattern. Feynman: Feynman lectures on physics: vol III, Quantum mechanics, Double-slit experiment - Wikipedia

Our observation has the effect of stopping the interference process before it is complete, so that there is no interference. We cannot both have our process and observe it. In general, processes are halted by observation or alternatively, we cannot observe the result of a process until it is complete.

Symmetry

The third source of uncertainty is symmetry. A snowflake is symmetrical, with six identical 'arms'. Because they are identical we cannot tell which is which. If we look away and someone turns the snowflake around, we have no way of telling how far it was turned or if it is was turned all all.

Traditional theology holds that God is completely mysterious to us and beyond our ken.

Having established the existence of something, the next question is how it exists in order that we learn its nature. But because we are unable to know the nature of God, but only what what God is not, we are not able to study how God exists, but rather how God does not exist. . . .

We can show how God does not exist by removing from him inappropriate features such as composition, motion and other similar things. . . . St Thomas Aquinas: Summa: I 3 1:Prologue, Latin version

This is the famous via negativa. Apophatic theology - Wikipedia

Symmetries are situations where nothing observable happens. They are the practical boundaries of the dynamic Universe. We may picture this to a degree by imagining the string of a piano or guitar. When struck, the string vibrates at every point except at the ends, which are held still by the structure of the instrument, and the nodes, which are fixed by the symmetrical motion of the overtones. Symmetry - Wikipedia

When we consider the Universe as divine, we can imagine the symmetries discovered by physics as the boundaries of the divinity. From a logical point of view, the dynamics of the Universe is consistent. The boundaries of the dynamics are the points beyond which it would become inconsistent, that is non-existent,.

All our experience is experience of God, and all our experiences are in effect measurements of God, that is events that we see as fixed points in the divine dynamics. We can learn a lot more about the natural God than the Christians can learn about their god. The natural God is only partially invisible, and we since we are continually in contact with it, we have a good chance of learning how it works. Such knowledge is necessary for survival.


Cognito de aliquo an sit, inquirendum restat quomodo sit, ut sciatur de eo quid sit. Sed quia de Deo scire non possumus quid sit, sed quid non sit, non possumus considerare de Deo quomodo sit, sed potius quomodo non sit. Primo ergo considerandum est quomodo non sit; . . .

Potest autem ostendi de Deo quomodo non sit, removendo ab eo ea quae ei non conveniunt, utpote compositionem, motum et alia huiusmodi. . . . back to main text

(revised 5 January 2019)

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Further reading

Books

Click on the "Amazon" link below each book entry to see details of a book (and possibly buy it!)

Bastin, Ted, and C W Kilmister, Combinatorial Physics, World Scientific 1995 About this book (World Scientific) 'The authors aim to reinstate a spirit of philosophical enquiry in physics. They abandon the intuitive continuum concepts and build up constructively a combinatorial mathematics of process. This radical change alone makes it possible to calculate the coupling constants of the fundamental fields which — via high energy scattering — are the bridge from the combinatorial world into dynamics. The untenable distinction between what is ‘observed’, or measured, and what is not, upon which current quantum theory is based, is not needed. If we are to speak of mind, this has to be present — albeit in primitive form — at the most basic level, and not to be dragged in at one arbitrary point to avoid the difficulties about quantum observation. There is a growing literature on information-theoretic models for physics, but hitherto the two disciplines have gone in parallel. In this book they interact vitally.' 
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Feynman, Richard P, and Robert B Leighton, Matthew Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics (volume 3) : Quantum Mechanics, Addison Wesley 1970 Foreword: 'This set of lectures tries to elucidate from the beginning those features of quantum mechanics which are the most basic and the most general. . . . In each instance the ideas are introduced together with a detailed discussion of some specific examples - to try to make the physical ideas as real as possible.' Matthew Sands 
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Tanenbaum, Andrew S, Computer Networks, Prentice Hall International 1996 Preface: 'The key to designing a computer network was first enunciated by Julius Caesar: Divide and Conquer. The idea is to design a network as a sequence of layers, or abstract machines, each one based upon the previous one. . . . This book uses a model in which networks are divided into seven layers. The structure of the book follows the structure of the model to a considerable extent.'  
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Links

Apophatic theology - Wikipedia, Apophatic theology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Apophatic theology (from Greek ἀπόφασις from ἀπόφημι - apophēmi, "to deny")—also known as negative theology or via negativa (Latin for "negative way")—is a theology that attempts to describe God, the Divine Good, by negation, to speak only in terms of what may not be said about the perfect goodness that is God. It stands in contrast with cataphatic theology.' back

Aquinas 14 (Introduction), Summa: I 3: Via Negativa, 'I answer that, It is absolutely true that God is not a body; and this can be shown in three ways. First, because no body is in motion unless it be put in motion, as is evident from induction. Now it has been already proved (2, 3), that God is the First Mover, and is Himself unmoved. Therefore it is clear that God is not a body. .. .' back

Born rule - Wikipedia, Born rule - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Born rule (also called the Born law, Born's rule, or Born's law) is a law of quantum mechanics which gives the probability that a measurement on a quantum system will yield a given result. It is named after its originator, the physicist Max Born. The Born rule is one of the key principles of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. There have been many attempts to derive the Born rule from the other assumptions of quantum mechanics, with inconclusive results. . . . The Born rule states that if an observable corresponding to a Hermitian operator A with discrete spectrum is measured in a system with normalized wave function (see bra-ket notation), then the measured result will be one of the eigenvalues λ of A, and the probability of measuring a given eigenvalue λi will equal <ψ|Pi|ψ> where Pi is the projection onto the eigenspace of A corresponding to λi'. back

Double-slit experiment - Wikipedia, Double-slit experiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In the double-slit experiment, light is shone at a solid thin plate that has two slits cut into it. A photographic plate is set up to record what comes through those slits. One or the other slit may be open, or both may be open. . . . The most baffling part of this experiment comes when only one photon at a time is fired at the barrier with both slits open. The pattern of interference remains the same as can be seen if many photons are emitted one at a time and recorded on the same sheet of photographic film. The clear implication is that something with a wavelike nature passes simultaneously through both slits and interferes with itself — even though there is only one photon present. (The experiment works with electrons, atoms, and even some molecules too.)' back

Eigenvalues and eigenvectors - Wikipedia, Eigenvalues and eigenvectors - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'An eigenvector of a square matrix A is a non-zero vector vthat, when the matrix multiplies yields a constant multiple of v, the latter multiplier being commonly denoted by λ. That is: Av = λv' back

Interpersonal relationship - Wikipedia, Interpersonal relationship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'An interpersonal relationship is a strong, deep, or close association or acquaintance between two or more people that may range in duration from brief to enduring. This association may be based on inference, love, solidarity, regular business interactions, or some other type of social commitment. Interpersonal relationships are formed in the context of social, cultural and other influences. The context can vary from family or kinship relations, friendship, marriage, relations with associates, work, clubs, neighborhoods, and places of worship. They may be regulated by law, custom, or mutual agreement, and are the basis of social groups and society as a whole.' back

Jim Branson, Eigenvalue Equations, 'The time independent Schrödinger Equation is an example of an Eigenvalue equation. ' back

Laplace's demon - Wikipedia, Laplace's demon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'We may regard the present state of the universe as the effect of its past and the cause of its future. An intellect which at a certain moment would know all forces that set nature in motion, and all positions of all items of which nature is composed, if this intellect were also vast enough to submit these data to analysis, it would embrace in a single formula the movements of the greatest bodies of the universe and those of the tiniest atom; for such an intellect nothing would be uncertain and the future just like the past would be present before its eyes.' A Philosophical Essay on Probabilities, Essai philosophique dur les probabilites introduction to the second edition of Theorie analytique des probabilites based on a lecture given in 1794. back

Measurement uncertainty - Wikipedia, Measurement uncertainty - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In metrology, measurement uncertainty is a non-negative parameter characterizing the dispersion of the values attributed to a measured quantity. The uncertainty has a probabilistic basis and reflects incomplete knowledge of the quantity. All measurements are subject to uncertainty and a measured value is only complete if it is accompanied by a statement of the associated uncertainty.' back

Photon - Wikipedia, Photon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'A photon is an elementary particle, the quantum of all forms of electromagnetic radiation including light. It is the force carrier for electromagnetic force, even when static via virtual photons. The photon has zero rest mass and as a result, the interactions of this force with matter at long distance are observable at the microscopic and macroscopic levels.' back

Planck constant - Wikipedia, Planck constant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' Since energy and mass are equivalent, the Planck constant also relates mass to frequency. By 2017, the Planck constant had been measured with sufficient accuracy in terms of the SI base units, that it was central to replacing the metal cylinder, called the International Prototype of the Kilogram (IPK), that had defined the kilogram since 1889. . . . For this new definition of the kilogram, the Planck constant, as defined by the ISO standard, was set to 6.626 070 150 × 10-34 J⋅s exactly. ' back

St Thomas Aquinas, Summa: I 3 1:Prologue , 'Once we have learnt that something exists, we can go on to ask how it is, so that we may bnetter understand what it is. But becasue we cannot know of God what it is, but what it is not, we cannot ask how God is, but rather how it is not. So first we must talk about how God is not, then how it is klnown by us, and thirdly, how it is named. It is possible to show how God is not by removing from it those properties which are not appropriate, like composition, motions and other things like this. So first we ask about the simplicity of God, through which is removed composition. And because simple things in the corporeal world and imperfect and parts, we secondly look into the perfection of God, third, his infinity, fourth its immutability, fifth his unity. back

Symmetry - Wikipedia, Symmetry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Symmetry (from Greek συμμετρία symmetria "agreement in dimensions, due proportion, arrangement") in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, "symmetry" has a more precise definition, that an object is invariant to a transformation, such as reflection but including other transforms too. Although these two meanings of "symmetry" can sometimes be told apart, they are related, so they are here discussed together.' back

W. F. McGrew et al, Atomic clock performance enabling geodesy below the centimetre level, ' The passage of time is tracked by counting oscillations of a frequency reference, such as Earth’s revolutions or swings of a pendulum. By referencing atomic transitions, frequency (and thus time) can be measured more precisely than any other physical quantity, with the current generation of optical atomic clocks reporting fractional performance below the 10−17 level. However, the theory of relativity prescribes that the passage of time is not absolute, but is affected by an observer’s reference frame. Consequently, clock measurements exhibit sensitivity to relative velocity, acceleration and gravity potential. Here we demonstrate local optical clock measurements that surpass the current ability to account for the gravitational distortion of space-time across the surface of Earth. In two independent ytterbium optical lattice clocks, we demonstrate unprecedented values of three fundamental benchmarks of clock performance. In units of the clock frequency, we report systematic uncertainty of 1.4 × 10−18, measurement instability of 3.2 × 10−19 and reproducibility characterized by ten blinded frequency comparisons, yielding a frequency difference of [−7 ± (5)stat ± (8)sys] × 10−19, where ‘stat’ and ‘sys’ indicate statistical and systematic uncertainty, respectively. Although sensitivity to differences in gravity potential could degrade the performance of the clocks as terrestrial standards of time, this same sensitivity can be used as a very sensitive probe of geopotential. Near the surface of Earth, clock comparisons at the 1 × 10−18 level provide a resolution of one centimetre along the direction of gravity, so the performance of these clocks should enable geodesy beyond the state-of-the-art level. These optical clocks could further be used to explore geophysical phenomena, detect gravitational waves, test general relativity and search for dark matter.' back

Werner Heisenberg, Quantum-theoretical re-interpretation of kinematic and mechanical relations, 'The present paper seeks to establish a basis for theoretical quantum mechanics founded exclusively upon relationships between quantities which in principle are observable.' back

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