Mad as a Hatter

Woke up this morning thinking about gravity. It happens.

In particular, I was thinking about the "rubber sheet" model of gravity. The idea is that what gravity really is is a bending of space-time. Imagine a stretched-out rubber sheet. Like, say, a trampoline. Let's say that trampoline represents the universe. Or, rather, the two-dimensional surface at the top of the trampoline represents the universe.

Now, what happens when you put a weight somewhere on the trampoline? Gently, mind you. I'm not talking about bouncing it up and down. You put a weight down slowly, and the trampoline sags under it. Any other object on the trampoline's surface will naturally begin to slide towards it. And the closer you are to the weight and the heaver it is, the more the other object will be drawn in that direction.

That's what gravity is like. Mass bends space-time. The more mass there is, the greater the effect. And the closer you are, the more you feel it.

The thing is that the effect goes on infinitely in all directions. It drops off exponentially with distance, but it's still mathematically there. The same thing happens with, say, a lightbulb. The amount of light you see from it drops off exponentially the further you get from it, but the light rays go out from it infinitely in all directions. Even if you get far enough that it's too dim for your eyes to see, more sensitive equipment can still theoretically pick it up.

All of which is pretty cool because, among other things, it means that you, just by existing, are bending space and time around you in a way which can be felt across the entire universe. And every time you move, you're changing the curvature of the universe.

But it also means that if you know the exact shape of the gravitational field at a given point, down to the nth derivative, you can theoretically extrapolate from that the shape of the entire universe. Which means you'd know the mass and location of every object in existence. By studying exactly what's right here (wherever your "here" may happen to be), you can know where everything in the universe is.

The same goes for magnetic fields. They extend infinitely across the universe, so if you the exact shape of the magnetic field where you are, you could figure out where everything with any kind of electromagnetic charge is.

So, if you were looking for a specific distant object with a magnetic field and you could either know everything about that object's magnetic properties or know everything about the field where you are, you'd be better off with the latter. There are all sorts of electromagnetic fields coming from every direction. Knowing what you're looking for won't help so much because the effects would be miniscule. More importantly, you'd be getting interference from everything else. But if you know the field where you are, you can extrapolate from that where everything is.

I was thinking about that, and I suddenly realized something.

In Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, someone with the proper knowledge and sufficient magical power can Travel, opening up a Gateway from one place to another. The thing is that to do it you have to truly, deeply know the place where you are. Not where you're going. Where you're leaving from. You have to really study it. It can take days.

It always seemed like an odd magical quirk. A whim of the writer. But today it clicked for me. It's true. When you're dealing with the fabric of the universe, it really can be more important to know everything about where you are.

ETA: "Every time you move, you are changing the curvature of the universe." This might explain why it's so hard to get out of bed in the morning.

Eastern meditation: If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Western science: If a cat dies in a box, and no one is there to see it, is it really dead?

Personally, I've always been inclined to say, "Yes. Duh." But it's interesting how the two chose to express what is essentially the same general idea.

And, on thoughts of zombie cats (the brilliant solution from one of the early strips at rlfcomic.com ), I bid you a happy Halloween and a good night.

Posted via m.livejournal.com.

Just finished reading a cool book called The Warded Man. Found it in the library.

The book takes place in a world beset by demons. They arise every night from the core of the Earth. A lot of bad stuff happens to the main character, of course. To all three of them, actually. But the title character... well, it destroys any chance of him having faith. And he's talking about that to a priest, who is trying to convince him that there is a Creator and a reason for it all and a plan that could be understood if only the bigger picture could be seen.

It's not the first time I've seen a conversation like that in a book. But it brings up the same thought in me every time. Whatever I think of theology in our world, I know the truth of theirs. The priest is absolutely right. In their world, there is a higher power. There is a creator. No question. Their entire lives, their entire world... all part of a greater plan. The deaths of loved ones, the plague that rips through the town, the demons who slaughter anyone they can get their hands on, the betrayals and bandits and everything... all part of the plan. A plan that will eventually (almost) certainly bring triumph, glory, and (some measure of) happiness to the main characters. There is indeed a reason for all that pain and suffering and conflict and death.

That reason? Entertainment. For people like me who can pick the book up off the shelf and escape into it for a few hours.

Sometimes, I wish I could tell them. But it would be doing them no favors. Sort of feels like maybe I owe them something, though. And an apology isn't nearly going to cut it. Not after everything they went through.

Had a good weekend. Went to Cape May with Mom and Dad. Didn't sleep well (even for me), unfortunately, but otherwise it was good. Beautiful weather, charming little town, nice change of pace. Pretty tired now (even for me), though.

Did have an odd dream. Or an odd fragment of a dream:

Frodo and Bilbo were walking through the forest when suddenly Gandalf appeared. He ate the two hobbits with one cartoonish swallow each. There was a flash and a magical puff and he was instantly made moderately fat. So he changed his name to James Gandalfini.

Even odder is that I never read LotR (I took a crack at it when I was a kid, but couldn't slog through even half of the first book), never saw the movies, and never watched The Sopranos, either. This meant that the whole scene was glimpsed very vaguely, with the people involved having no distinct forms. No idea where any of it came from.

Also, random thought for those of you who don't read randomthoughts:

You know that expression "I put my pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else"? Well you know who doesn't? Batman.^*

Also (even if they are sometimes The Wrong Trousers) Wallace.

^*The Adam West version, anyway.

You know, if I was in charge of an intelligence-gathering orginization in a comic book universe (some part of WayneTech or LexCorp or the gov't or whatever), the first thing I'd do is put a close eye on anyone buying (and perhaps selling) spandex.

The second thing I'd do is look around to see who else was doing the same thing.

(Also, I'm not sure why, but it seems like no one has had anything to say to me for the last few days. Journal comments, comment replies, email... Nothin'. I haven't been on IM, and I did mention that I was going away and stuff, and I know a fair number of you are busy with your own lives^*. It just feels a little odd.

^*Can you believe the nerve of some people?)

Sorry that I once again have not responded to comments. I suck. And I'm still exhausted. Even more so thanks to a morning checkup that cut me down to half a night's sleep for the sake of 2 minutes of face time with the doc.

In the meantime, for your enjoyment, ( a discovery I made today )

( And I know just where to keep it! )

Thanks for the comments and support last entry. Sorry I've been so bad about responding. Not really sure what to say, and still a little too tired to figure it out.

Being out here on vacation with the family is good, though. Somehow, you sleep a little better after you've had 3 kids climbing all over you for a few hours. Still kind of hit-or-miss, but better than it was, at least.

We'll see what happens when I get back home. How much of this is vacation adrenaline.

Meantime... How come "reckoning" (as in "There will be a reckoning!") is considered melodramatic, well-aged (kind of antique), and perhaps (depending on context and such) vaguely intellectual, but "reckon" (as in "I reckon so") is considered to be the antithesis of all those things?

Getting up early (for me) tomorrow so we can go to a wedding reception of sorts. A college friend of my sister's (who became a family friend) had her wedding in Italy a little while back. Now they're having a party for all the friends and family who couldn't make it that far. Sis gets to go to both.

It's at their place in CT. We'll go through NY, pick up sis, and head on over. A three-state trip.

Trick of it is that, despite being a wedding party, it's also a pool party. They said casual dress, but I expect everyone will be in dressy casual, hovering near the pool. Because people are stupid. And because "wedding reception" takes priority over "backyard pool party" when it comes to picking clothes. Still, we'll be bringing bathing suits to change into.

The other thing is that they can't possibly provide towels for all those guests, so they specifically said in the invitation to bring our own. I packed ours just now.

So, to recap:

1. We're driving through parts of three different states.
2. We're picking up passengers on the way.
3. We're bringing our own towels.
4. We will be making sure to know where those towels are throughout the party.

Conclusion: We are hoopy froods.

And if you don't know what that means... Shame on you!

( Click here to learn, or just to play. )

Don't think more than a couple of you will even get this, let alone appreciate it, but... Idea came. Had to do it. (Gave me something to do when we were out of town with no internet yesterday, anyway.)

"My emperor," Vader announced, "the inhabitents of the forest moon of Keebler Three are threatening to join the rebels. Shall I dispatch a fleet to destroy them?"

"No," Palpatine responded, "I know exactly what we need to crush those puny creatures..."

( WARNING: Bad, geeky picture gag )