Thursday, November 28, 2019

Understanding Frames of Reference

Frames of Reference are the Reason Reality is an Illusion

Another aspect of relativity that comes from velocity, spacetime, mass, and energy are things called frames of reference. Even though we can determine our velocity in the universe by calculating the distances we travel in our various orbits, we don't really feel like we're moving at all. It feels to us like everything else is moving, and we are still. This leads to an oddity in which reality is actually different for everybody.

To envision this, imagine you were on a train that is moving five miles per hour. There is a bridge five miles ahead. By remaining still on the train, we will reach the bridge in one hour. Anyone ahead of us on the train will reach the bridge in less than one hour. It will take longer than an hour to reach the bridge for anyone behind us on the train. Anyone outside the train would not be approaching the bridge. They would see a train moving past them at five miles per hour and probably wouldn't see the bridge. Which of those statements is the only one that is true?

The only one that is true to any of the people involved in the scenario is the one that applies to that person. Since we know what is really happening, we can see that all of those statements are true. However, since any statement is true only if it applies, each of these true statements is also false if the frame of reference does not apply, which makes each statement false to everybody else from their frames of reference. 

This creates an oddity of logic. The person who is the most honest with you may be the person who sees a situation differently and is telling you what they see from their frame of reference that is totally different from what you see. The person who says they see it the same as you do may be deceiving you. However, not necessarily. Nothing is certain.

The person on the train will see the bridge approaching. The bridge will remain static to the person outside the train, but the train would be moving toward it. Anyone on the train who is approaching the bridge will see it as the future. Anyone who has already crossed the bridge will see it as the past. What we see, and how we interpret it, will depend on our position in spacetime and the relative velocities at which we are traveling compared to the velocities of other things that we see traveling through the same spacetime.

Order and Chaos


Let's now apply frames of reference to a game of basketball. You are a referee with players moving all around you, coaches and players on two benches with the same goal but opposing interests, and fans in the stands likely with bias toward one team more than the other. Your charge is to make certain that both teams play fairly so a winner can be determined based on each team's ability to execute plays within the rules.

This may not be that difficult provided everyone involved behaves within the rules and displays sportsmanship. The more a team, or a player on a team, is willing to break the rules in order to gain advantage, the more closely you must watch that team or player for violations. The closer you watch that player, the less attention you will have for every other aspect of the game. Everybody in the gym will be trying to influence you in some way, and in each instance you will have to make decisions that may affect the outcome of the game. However, you know the rules, you are competent, and you want to fulfill that which you see as your purpose as fairly as possible.

Before we tip this off, there is one other thing you must know: all civility will be removed, and lives will be at stake. You still have the same charge, but now players, coaches, and fans might die because of your decisions. You may be the person who must tell the short person who was lifted by his teammates that his teammates can't do that for him, or you might have to tell the other team that you are going to allow it for the short guy but not for anyone else. If your decision in any situation makes the difference between 80% of the audience cheering you or threatening to kill you, it will take really high regard for the game to make the right call if making that call means death to you.

So, you make a decision, and now everybody who suffered as a result declares you the enemy, but the other team says you can join their side. Will you be able to retain your impartiality? If not, then you have placed personal safety ahead of impartiality. That is fine. In fact, it is in our natures to seek safety in numbers. However, while it is fine, it also does away with the argument that most referees may offer that they would sacrifice their lives for high principles. There is no certainty to the definition of principles like fairness, and that is because fairness will seem different to people in different frames of references. They, like the referees, are less interested in high principles than they are in surviving and procreating. If there is no way for everyone in the game to do that through principles, then winning the game becomes more important than the lives of others, even if one must break the rules to do so. 

* * * * * 


These are two chapters excerpted from my eBook Conceptual Thoughts: Relativity in Everyday Life. 

It is available at Amazon.

No comments:

Post a Comment