Reference Frame
When you fall into a book… and land in reality.
Lunch… need to make it quick. Between the daily parade of classes, countless assignments and never-ending meetings, rarely can I find the time for a peaceful bite. As I pile it all on, every task becomes a chore, every meal an inconvenience, every day a blur. Where does it all go, what is it all for, what is the damn point. Today, I will make the time. Today, I’m going to put all that on hold… and read.
The Universe and Dr. Einstein
Nothing like a little relativity to give me some perspective. The concepts are not new, but the delivery is on point. The author’s ability to pitch the physics would make any salesman envious. Genuine and clear, he presents concepts that some fail to understand, some choose to ignore, and some attempt to master. Every page is a trip, every chapter a journey.
As I flip through the physics of antiquity and learn… oh, how we were mislead, I teeter on the brink of grasping my own reality. Dimensions. Probabilities. Entropy. Einstein.
What are you telling me Al? That it’s not what it seems? That I’ve had it all wrong? That I have been living in an alternate reality not relating to the relative nature of your Theory of Relativity? Surely you’re joking, Mr. Einstein.
Chapter 10. Reference Frames. I got this.
I am reading that there is no such thing as absolute motion. The elevator thought experiment… accelerating in space or in free-fall on Earth. You cannot tell, no one can. I stop chewing my wrap. The Earth rotates on its axis at a rate of 1000 miles per hour, orbiting around the Sun nearly 72 times as fast, all the while passenger to our Solar System which is drifting almost 500 million miles an hour around the Milky Way galaxy. And it doesn’t end there… Go ahead. Tell me how fast you’re moving. I will tell you how you are absolutely wrong about your absolute velocity, or, absolutely right, who am I to say. My breathing is shallow. I read about the past, present and the future. Our egocentric view strapped to the surface of this planet making claims of what has or hasn’t happened. Apparently, Al tells me, none of this is true. Nothing is happening, it just exists. Whether we choose to observe it or not is our prerogative. The Universe doesn’t give a damn if we dwell on the past, get stuck in the moment, or fear for the future… it will just keep on existing. I feel queasy. All that information and a turkey wrap is a lot to digest. I look around trying to find something to grasp on to. And right there, the floor dropped away and I went cosmic.
With the book as motivation and my mind as the projector, I depart from this novelistic journey and embark on a cosmic voyage.
Through Space.
Through Time.
I zoom out to view the Solar System in its entirety… at what speed?…apparently I have no idea. I float through each frame of reference, acknowledging the different motions that make up the Solar System. Right down to the planets, I spin on each axis and orbit in each plane. I notice the field of stars surrounding my view. Seemingly fixed in space, I now know this is just a little trick that light likes to play. I wonder, how old the light hitting my eyes must be. Where are the stars now? Are they even still there?
Someone bumps into me and my voyage ends. My meditation cut short by the individual passing by at 3 miles per hour… relative to me of course. Back on Earth, I look at those walking around. As they go about their day, moving into their “future” and creating a “past”... I fixate on the leaves blowing outside in the fall wind. Fully aware of the Earth’s motion around the Sun at 20 miles a second, I stare at the gentle ruffling of leaves and suddenly become aware of the trivialities of everyday life and how, similiar to the motion of objects, everything we focus on and get consumed by, is completely relative.
Even this book in my hand means very little to the passers by. Every laugh, every great decision, every fallen leaf... they are meaningless.
And... they are not.
With the time we have here on Earth, it all depends on what we decide to give our focus to, give love to, and give time to. Those decisions are what gives the individual meaning.
For a second, I swear Al, as I meditated on each of those different frames of reference, I felt myself rotating with the Earth, around the Sun, with the Milky Way, moving through the Cosmos.
Sometimes… you fall into a book, and land in reality.
Realizing I hadn’t breathed in a while, I gulped some air, finished my wrap and was once again grounded in both Space and Time.
