Week 4 Physics: e=mc2, the four "forces" and the function of gravity
How has e=mc 2 affected me?
All along matter has been converting into energy, as matter is condensed energy. When we eat, think, sleep, flex our muscles, matter is converted into energy in our bodies. In all nuclear and chemical reactions this happens, so it affects me a great deal!
On a larger scale, this equation allowed scientists to create the atom bomb which changed the way we engage in warfare. That looming fear of imminent nuclear disaster is thanks to this equation :)
So we understand processes better and have advanced technology.
This is a Western and scientific understanding of something small yet significant that Eastern medicine sensed long ago - that matter and energy are interchangeable. When we talk about organs in western medicine we do talk about the form vs. the function, and acknowledge that there is overlap - however, acknowledging this doesn't always translate to experiencing this. In Chinese medicine, it's really fascinating that we experience the energy of our organ systems. This is not unique to Chinese medicine either. In traditional Khakas culture the emotions are also very much felt by the Liver so that when mourning or in grief one would grab at their right side, just below the ribcage. People would ask: "how is your liver" in response to being aware of another's emotional turmoil. The energies of the zangfu make up a complex of emotional, cognitive, and even involuntary bodily functions such as breathing. To me, the Spleen is a great example, it has the function to help with cognition and also to digest foods - that's why it's recommended not to both eat food and take in information at the same time, such as read or study. I personally feel a big difference when I avoid this (though sometimes it's hard... Netflix!!). I can digest "one meal at a time" better. But it's funny how in Western medicine, we are becoming more aware of this too. After all, we speak of learning and cognition in a metaphorical sense as "digestion" or "taking in" - it is something that takes a physical and energetic toll. We also are learning a lot more about the gut-brain in Western medicine.
So e=mc2 I view as a validating equation of the inseparability of form and function which we talk about a lot in Chinese medicine. Thank you Einstein!
Onto the Four Fields and comparing them!
I have found understanding these a little difficult but there are some differences I can understand.
The four forces are weak and strong nuclear forces, electromagnetic, and gravity. The first three all fit into the quantum level whereas gravity is part of "classical physics".
Strong and weak nuclear forces are miniscule and can only be measured within the nucleus. They have short ranges and include neutrons and protons, the binding of these two makes a hadron, a type of a quark - basically, a building block of matter. The weak force in particular is related to radioactive decay.
When it comes to electricity we are in the realms of the electromagnetic force - a larger force more easily observed. The fundamental particle in electromagnetism is the photon. Wikipedia also tells me that it is involved in chemical bonding - so I guess when Daniel Keown, author of Spark in the Machine, calls Qi electricity in the body, he's right! Qi and electricity both govern transformation, function and animation.
Gravity seems trickier. We all experience it as forces that draw us in towards masses. Our planet has more mass than the moon, so if we were on the moon we would weigh less - six times less! That would probably be nice to experience once in awhile. A fundamental particle for gravity has not been found (yet), it seems to occur at such a large macro level that I guess it's hard to find. Although, scientists are now searching for gravity on the quantum level, looking for particles there.
What is the function of gravity?
Northwestern University has this to say about gravity: "Gravity is a very important force. Every object in space exerts a gravitational pull on every other, and so gravity influences the paths taken by everything traveling through space. It is the glue that holds together entire galaxies. It keeps planets in orbit."
The function of gravity is to keep things in place - we rely on the pull of gravity to keep satellites hovering around our planet, for example.
It's not something we always thinks about but what is allowing us to be in a suspension of life, when we jump why don't we fly into the sky?
Gravity keeps us on the ground, our earth revolving around the sun, other planets revolving around the sun, our solar system not colliding into another solar system, our galaxy not colliding into Andromeda, etc. If it were not for gravity it seems like everything would collide or scatter. It would be chaotic.
All along matter has been converting into energy, as matter is condensed energy. When we eat, think, sleep, flex our muscles, matter is converted into energy in our bodies. In all nuclear and chemical reactions this happens, so it affects me a great deal!
On a larger scale, this equation allowed scientists to create the atom bomb which changed the way we engage in warfare. That looming fear of imminent nuclear disaster is thanks to this equation :)
So we understand processes better and have advanced technology.
This is a Western and scientific understanding of something small yet significant that Eastern medicine sensed long ago - that matter and energy are interchangeable. When we talk about organs in western medicine we do talk about the form vs. the function, and acknowledge that there is overlap - however, acknowledging this doesn't always translate to experiencing this. In Chinese medicine, it's really fascinating that we experience the energy of our organ systems. This is not unique to Chinese medicine either. In traditional Khakas culture the emotions are also very much felt by the Liver so that when mourning or in grief one would grab at their right side, just below the ribcage. People would ask: "how is your liver" in response to being aware of another's emotional turmoil. The energies of the zangfu make up a complex of emotional, cognitive, and even involuntary bodily functions such as breathing. To me, the Spleen is a great example, it has the function to help with cognition and also to digest foods - that's why it's recommended not to both eat food and take in information at the same time, such as read or study. I personally feel a big difference when I avoid this (though sometimes it's hard... Netflix!!). I can digest "one meal at a time" better. But it's funny how in Western medicine, we are becoming more aware of this too. After all, we speak of learning and cognition in a metaphorical sense as "digestion" or "taking in" - it is something that takes a physical and energetic toll. We also are learning a lot more about the gut-brain in Western medicine.
So e=mc2 I view as a validating equation of the inseparability of form and function which we talk about a lot in Chinese medicine. Thank you Einstein!
Onto the Four Fields and comparing them!
I have found understanding these a little difficult but there are some differences I can understand.
The four forces are weak and strong nuclear forces, electromagnetic, and gravity. The first three all fit into the quantum level whereas gravity is part of "classical physics".
Strong and weak nuclear forces are miniscule and can only be measured within the nucleus. They have short ranges and include neutrons and protons, the binding of these two makes a hadron, a type of a quark - basically, a building block of matter. The weak force in particular is related to radioactive decay.
When it comes to electricity we are in the realms of the electromagnetic force - a larger force more easily observed. The fundamental particle in electromagnetism is the photon. Wikipedia also tells me that it is involved in chemical bonding - so I guess when Daniel Keown, author of Spark in the Machine, calls Qi electricity in the body, he's right! Qi and electricity both govern transformation, function and animation.
Gravity seems trickier. We all experience it as forces that draw us in towards masses. Our planet has more mass than the moon, so if we were on the moon we would weigh less - six times less! That would probably be nice to experience once in awhile. A fundamental particle for gravity has not been found (yet), it seems to occur at such a large macro level that I guess it's hard to find. Although, scientists are now searching for gravity on the quantum level, looking for particles there.
What is the function of gravity?
Northwestern University has this to say about gravity: "Gravity is a very important force. Every object in space exerts a gravitational pull on every other, and so gravity influences the paths taken by everything traveling through space. It is the glue that holds together entire galaxies. It keeps planets in orbit."
The function of gravity is to keep things in place - we rely on the pull of gravity to keep satellites hovering around our planet, for example.
It's not something we always thinks about but what is allowing us to be in a suspension of life, when we jump why don't we fly into the sky?
Gravity keeps us on the ground, our earth revolving around the sun, other planets revolving around the sun, our solar system not colliding into another solar system, our galaxy not colliding into Andromeda, etc. If it were not for gravity it seems like everything would collide or scatter. It would be chaotic.
For days I also have been struggling with these concepts and their application to my daily life. The ideas and conversations are so foreign, almost abstract, my head tilts in wonderment. What I am to do with this knowledge of gravity? Once I believed it to be caused by centrifugal force; now I think of it more as a glue. Now what?
ReplyDeleteThese small ideas have take root in an uncharted direction. This process has me on alert.
That is so amazing that in Khakas culture, one asks "how is your liver," to see how someone is doing emotionally! The familiarity of our body's relationship with our emotions in different cultures, such as Chinese or Khakas, shows there's chicken and egg situation with health and dis-ease: how can we teach each other to be aware of our emotions, Zangfu, and physical well-being using the equation Einstein wrote. Maybe getting a clear picture of how energy and matter interrelate and intertransform can clarify that we are not separate from energy. We are energy, and we live in a field of energy. We are not just physical beings with isolated minds- we are immersed in a Sea of Qi, so to speak.
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