Of Brane New World!

discoverer #15 Some questions are indeed unanswerable. However, even now the path to finding the ``soul`` (as traditionally understood) is actually quite clear: If a person dies and yu can ``resurrect`` him exactly the way he was when he died, then you have effectively captured his ``soul`` (as traditionally understood). Furthermore, if you are able to not just resurrect him but also fix the problem (disease, trauma, age-weakened organs) then you have in effect also given his soul immortality (as traditionally understood).

The path to the above is clear - you merely need to capture the information regarding the make-up of the indiviudal at the molecular level (dont even need to dig deeper into the sub-atomic level, let alone the string level). Advances in medicine and genetics have made this clear.

However, even if we are able to achieve `immortality`` in the traditional sense of the word, even if we have captured the ``soul`` in the traditonal sense of the word, we are still left with unanswered questions. E.g. What happens after the universe as we know it is itself ended...either through continued expansion that ultimately rips everthing (including humans) apart, per current theory; or through a Big Crunch that reduces the universe to a singularity; or something we have no conception about today. When that happens, even the path made clear by medical advances reaches a dead end. What happens to the ``soul``? Does it become nothing (like the pre-birth ``nothing`` that we came from)? Or dies the entire universe, along with its contents (including us puny humans) transform into something else?

There will thus always be a religion - and our concept of religion will be determined by the depth to which we explore concepts of religion like the ``soul`` and ``good`` and ``evil`` and ``God` and so on.

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okay thanks guys but my thinking is that no matter how ADVANCE human civilization becomes he`ll lack some knowledge, now c`mon we know that gravity is a force but do we know how this force is acting on our bodies or other object meaning is there a material which is attracted to gravity , Can we consider gravity like magnet. another question i came across is we all believe that we have soul but where is it, and dispite having all the characteristic of living organism we still need soul and are depended on it. these qestion cannot be answered by man because our knowledge is much more limited then we think off

pS in question like these it is impossible for me to make myself clear, SORRy

Urstruly

I dont know enough to be able to answer your question. initially i too thought time was not a dimension like the spatial ones. but as i read about relativity and the ``curved space time`` created by high mass bodies around them my views are not so sure. Einstein proposed, as a consequence of the curved space time predicted by his theories, that light from distant stars which are hidden behind our sun curves around it and reaches us.

This prediction was later verified during a solar eclipse when the light from the sun was blocked out. When einstein was told that his prediction was true and his theory stood verified he took it calmly, so a student asked wasnt he glad that his theory had come true, to which he replied that had it not it would be too bad for god, i.e. the elegance and mathematically beautiful of his theory were such that had it not emperically been proven it would be the universe`s loss.

after relativity scientists also no longer look upon planets as simply circling the sun any more, they perceive the fabric of space to be curved just like a taut bedsheet which has a heavy mass placed in the center causing any other sphere placed on the bed sheet to roll towards the center, but if sufficient initial momentum is imparted to the object on a friction less sheet it will keep circling around the heavy mass at the center indefinitly.

Urstruly:

Time is a dimension by itself. There are three space dimensions and one dimension of time. All these dimensions can be experienced in our daily life. And Schrodinger`s mechanics is four diensional. Scientists are contemplating that time also is multidimensional. In one of my earlier articles, I mentioned that Professor Cumrun Vafa of Harvard has formulated a theory which he calls F-theory (F is for father in contrast to M in M-theory which some people believe is the mother of all theories). In this theory, time is two dimensional.

Mathematical theories demand extra dimensions of space-time for unifying the fundamental forces of nature. It is argued that these dimensions were tangible in the early evolution of the universe. Later on, the extra dimensions curled up and got compactified. They still exist in the compactified form but they cannot be detected with the available equipment because they are so small. They are essential for the unification of the forces. In the early universe, all the fundamental forces were uinfied and they got separated with the subsequent evolution of the universe. Unification of the forces will enable us to understand the origination of the universe when all these forces were unified. At that time, the extra dimensions were discernable. Effecteively, the scientists are trying to run the film of the `evolution of the universe` in the backward direction(with respect to time). And mathematics is the most effective tool for doing this.

Physical comprehension of these extra dimension is beyond us, at present. They are a mathematical necessity. There is optimism however (scientists and theorists are always optimist) that in due time we`ll be able to detect these extra dimensions experimentally.

This field of enquiry is quite exciting. The scientists are truly attempting to uncover ``ghaib``. Wishing you well,

Mohammad Gill

I have a question about the ``extra` dimensions, if someone could shed a light on them. My understanding however, is that the word `dimension` is misused in defining certain physical quantities; it is confused with spatial dimensions. Time is not a spatial dimension. I think the proper terminology to define a physical quantity is to use the terms `parameters`` or the word ``variable``. So there are certain physical quantities that need more that one variable to describe it. e.g. a cube requires three spatial dimensions to describe it. A vector (like weight of force) requires four dimensions to describe it - three spatial and one time. And a wave for example defined by a Schrodinger`s equation requires more than four dimensions/variables. Am I correct?

Shobig
if you had a knodding aquantance with the history of twentieth century physics and with einstein`s life long mission you would know that by the mind of god he was refering to the theory of everything, i.e. the theory which would unify all the 4 fundamental forces in nature, he refered to this illusory theory as the Unified field theory. and he died trying to find it, it was for this reason he rejected quantum theory which rests on the uncertainty principle and derided it by saying God doesnot play dice i.e. nature is not random.

In the only substantive statement on his personal faith he said he believed in Spinoza`s god or religion, which is no god at all just the system of laws which govern the universe, and it was his life long quest to find these laws. Infact Spinoza himself was excommunicated by the Jewish community of the Holland for his apostasies.

Einstein might be a pro-jew due to some social or poltical reasons, but he ws certainly a believer, these are not only metaphors...for instance, he said once

``I want to know how God created this World; I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element; I want to know His thoughts, rest are details!``

This statement of his clearly reflects his belief in the creation of this universe by a God...be that a jew`s, a christian`s or a Muslim`s God. And as Dr Gill mentioned, he wsn`t by any means known a Religious personality or cergy...why would he use the term God so often...if he did not have faith in his existance?

Gill sahab
Einstein became pro jew because of the discrimination he saw against them. Thats why he turned to Zionism in the thrities and fourties. he was not at all a believer. he had a deep sense of awe about the universe, in this sense he came close to the awe the religous and spiritual feel, which is not uncommon among great scientists.

these quotes shobig talks about are just that quotes, this is a metaphoric style of speaking, he did not like to talk too openly about his views because he was popular in the US and didnt want to loose that also he was afraid because many in the US considered atheism to be a jewish evil. This is they reason they had forced Russell out of his job at New York University despite his being of christian stock.

Russell too shared the same deep feeling of awe about the universe, but because he was socially very concious he campaigned against religion and its associated evils, and would publicly refute religion as he did in his famous ``Why I am not a Christian`` whose title Ibn Warraq copied.

hindvi:

In as much as I know from Einstein`s writings and others` about Einstein, I think he believed in God. He did not believe in a God of rewards and retribution however. His historical saying ``God does not play dice with the world`` can be quoted as an instance. Paul Dirac said some place, what is with Einstein? He is always talking about God.

shobig_siphr:

He was a born Jew but he did not follow Judaism. It`s difficult for a human to grow completely out of human biases. So, if he was pro-Jew, he was only human. I do not know much about it.

Mohammad Gill

Well hindvi, i don think Einstein was anything but a true believer! I can paste a horde of his quotations about faith, religion, n his belief in the existance of God!
Dr Gill, u said he didn follow any particular religion, but i read somewhere he ws an staunch follower of Judaism and even an active member of the zionist movement!

Free thinker

you are mistaken on einstein, he was not a believer, once he said he believed in spinoza`s conception of god, and spinoza`s conception of god actually means only the system of laws that governs the universe, thats it. if you want you could call him agnostic.

as regards russell he was for all purposes an atheist, but since you cant prove there is no god, just as you cant prove there is a god, he was technically an agnostic. but in his day to day life he was an atheist and a militant one at that.

Dear Shobig_siphar:

Thank you for your post. There are all kinds of people and scientists. Starting from Abdus Salam who was a dedicated believer, Einstein and many others who weren`t followers of any organized religion but they were believers, Bertrand Russell who was agnostic tending more toward atheism, and Dirac, Weinberg and many others who are (Dirac is dead) atheists. There is no definite proof of the existence or non-existence of God, so I believe it`s okay.

By the way, I wrote essays on ``Science without religion is lame`` and ``Religion without science is blind`` and published them on Chowk. Thanks again.

Mohammad Gill

Dr Gill,
With regards your interaction, let me quote these words of Einstein:
``To the sphere of religion belongs the faith that the regulations valid for the world of existance are rational , that is comprehensible to reason. I cannot conceive of a genuine scientist without that profound faith. The situation may be expressed by an image; science withour religion is lame, religion without science is blind``.

And DISCOVERER, the branes rseside in 26-dimensional space, which can be COMPACTIFiED to the real 4 dimensions :)

Dear discoverer:

I’m sorry I somehow overlooked your second question regarding the dimensions. The scientists have actually directly experienced the four dimensions with which all of us are familiar, namely, the three space (x,y,z) dimensions and the fourth one of time. The theories of unification however predict divers number of dimensions. For example, the supergravity needed eleven dimensions, the string and superstring theories need ten, and now the M-theory needs eleven dimensions. The eleventh dimension has enabled to unify all the five string theories into the M-theory.

No body has seen the extra dimensions. They are extremely small and are believed to be curled up or compactified. There is hope that one day these extra dimensions will be experimentally detected.

Mohammad Gill