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On the Fitzgerald-Lorentz contraction
| Content Provider | Scilit |
|---|---|
| Author | Sachs, Mendel |
| Copyright Year | 2018 |
| Description | Book Name: Relativity In Our Time |
| Abstract | Question The problem of distinguishing between what is real and what is illusory, depending on one’s frame of reference, seems to me to be crucial. How might you compare this in physics with the actions of human beings due to prejudices when it comes to our making judgements? Reply We tend to think that whatever is out there has nothing to do with our own selves, except for the effects on us, as an external action. Thus, if an astronomer might see a happening in the night sky, and judge it to mean that a particular sort of occurrence is taking place, he is aware of the fact that his judgement is based on a particular point of view. That is to say, the judgement should not be taken, at first glance, as an objective statement, until all possible interpretations have been considered-that is, the possible interpretations within the scientists’ framework of thinking. For example, many human beings take it for granted that their own particular classification, within the human race, is inherently superior to other classifications of human beings, in regard to some human quality, such as intelligence. The reasons used by these people in coming to their conclusion may seem perfectly logical, and even quantitatively correct-as far as they go! But such claims tend to use only partial information, that is taken from some ‘absolute’ frame of reference. According to the interpretation of a relativistic language-to express the different aspects of a single, objective world-the individual who is claiming objective truths must subject them to transformations to all other frames of reference, looking for the features in their relations that remain unchanged, i.e., the ‘invariants’. Only then can anyone express any views of the world from an objective point of view-that is, until new information might lead to an abandonment of its objective validity. With such sensitivity to the objectivity and oneness of the real world, I think the egocentric dominated prejudices of one person or another (or one group of people within the society or another) toward fellow members of the human race would diminish, leading to an improvement of human rights. In the preceding example, in which a fish in part of a frozen pond looks out of a hole in the ice to see a stick with a bug sitting on it, sliding at high speed towards it, the fish and the bug (initially) came to opposite conclusions about the outcome of a well-defined experimental situation. If they could have communicated with each other, they might have come to the realization that the other was a trustworthy observer and thinker. Realizing, then, that each was coming to an opposite conclusion about the outcome that indeed must be unique (the stick either falls into the hole or it does not!) they would have been forced to re-examine the situation together, until they could arrive at a theory that would satisfactorily explain why it was that each of them came to opposite conclusions, initially, as well as both of them agreeing on a single outcome for the situation. Thus, the bug and the fish might then agree on a single theory, with a unique set of predictions. Such a theory would necessarily be ‘abstract’ in the sense that it must underlie the observations which, on the surface appear to lead to contradictory conclusions. In this case, it would have been the mutual respect of both observers for the other’s point of view, and their mutual faith in the uniqueness of the laws of nature, that would have led to the removal of their respective prejudices, formed from their initial experiences, that had previously prevented them from making progress in their understanding of the real world. |
| Related Links | https://content.taylorfrancis.com/books/download?dac=C2004-0-18556-1&isbn=9781315274362&doi=10.1201/9781315274362-17&format=pdf |
| Ending Page | 82 |
| Page Count | 4 |
| Starting Page | 79 |
| DOI | 10.1201/9781315274362-17 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited |
| Publisher Date | 2018-10-08 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Book Name: Relativity In Our Time History and Philosophy of Science Reference Beings Judgement Real World Coming Human Race Opposite |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Chapter |
