Nothing, Something, and How Both The Physical and The Master Universe Came to Exist

©1997, ©1998, ©1999, ©2000, ©2001

Exposition featured links:

*  What got me started on this business about what NOTHING is.
*  Why the SPEED OF LIGHT is not a limitation.
*  Problems with the number ZERO .
*  How the universe began.   The BZ model -- structure of our universe, how it has 32 DIMENSIONS .
*  Why the RED SHIFT of the galaxies can be misleading.
* The BZ model -- Time & Motion & Gravity & Strong Force & Weak Force &  Electromagnetism as one entity .
 
 
 

What got me started:

In the magic year of 1969, I was stargazing at the telescope on what seemed the darkest night in years, and I was in awe of the vastness of the universe.  My thoughts were drifting toward cosmological theory, and I was contemplating how the universe was born out of nothingness.  Suddenly, then, I was struck by a profound question:  What was nothing ?

I sensed I was on to something big here.   And the question kept buzzing my mind, mightily pressing me for the answer right then and there.  Unfortunately, this occurred during an intense passion session with the beautiful heavens, and the astronomer guy does not seek diversion during such reverent moments.  I brushed the thought aside, telling myself that the awesome true meaning of NOTHING could be found by shining a flashlight through my ears.

But the question kept haunting me.  Like it or not, something inside me deperately needed to know the answer.  I wanted more than a simple dictionary-type definition; I wanted to know what the blazes nothing WAS.

There are times during stargazing bouts that a person is struck by one of those weighty philosophical questions, like -- what is infinity? -- or -- why does the universe exist?  And when this happens we humans become wide-eyed fearful that if we don't get the answer fast,  we will suddenly lose the immortal depth of our thought.  Realizing this, I mentally tossed around a quick Zen Buddhism-type explanation: The concept of NOTHING could be described as the sound of one hand clapping.  Then I returned to my telescope, resuming my work.

My mind, however, was scientific in nature, not philosophical.   I had difficulty when someone said things like -- the question is the answer.  To my youthful soul, such seemingly flippant Zen remarks were about as appropiate as Madalyn Murry O'Hair speaking at a Jesus rally.  Back in the sixties, the Zen stuff didn't communicate well with me.   I didn't need some airy hippy-type postulation with reference to the sound of one hand clapping.  What I needed was a rational answer that fit squarely in the mind, the way that 2+2 = 4 fits squarely in the mind.

Wistfully, I pulled my brain away from the splendor of the Milky Way.  Nothing as important as the meaning of nothing should ever wait until tomorrow.

During the ensuing three-hour mental blitz on ideas about nothing, I touched base with the following:

* The definition of Zero and the discomforting mathematical rules regarding that number.

* The ramifications of Zero in cosmological theory.

* The vacuum of space (or, rather, the lack thereof).

* How space differs from a true void.

* A grumbling chastising of the Big Bang theory.

* The relationship between time and motion and Einstein's concepts of time as a forth dimension.  (I was starting to get a headache by then.)

* A shockingly early brain flash akin to a string theory and a superstring!  But I had problems envisioning a universe with 10 dimensions.
   Such deep thoughts made my head spin, so I dismissed them!   (Auggggh, youth!)

* Subatomic physics and quarks and the graviton and curved space and infinity -- and a universe with 14 dimensions.  (More headache thinking.)

* BZ (Big Zilch) model of the universe describing the universe as a Zero divided into 32 segments which ultimately negate each other and
   add up  to nothing.  (Again, head spinning thoughts, but I returned to them many times over the ensuing third of a century.)
 

I eventually concluded that something and nothing were absolutely incompatible, (a little Zen creeping in there),  and therefore the state of NOTHINGNESS could not exist within the realm our universe because the universe is "something."   (Unless, of course, you accept (ahem) the astronomer guy's Big Zilch theory that reduces the sum total of everything to Zero). 

When finished, I nodded sagely to myself, as though my babbling introspect on the subject of nothing had really accomplished something significant.   The ice cold fact remained -- though I had plunged deep into thoretical science, I had not truly answered the question of what nothing WAS.  That's because youth has its limitations.  Youth wants instant easy answers to everything.   In truth, I had not examined all the angles of nothingness, nor had I allowed my  mind to comprehend the horrid truth about what nothing really is.   However, that flash of brilliance under the stars led me to a lifetime of exploring the ramifications of this subject. 

Thus, in the quest of science, theology, and the meaning of everything/nothing, I now humbly present to you the deepest thoughts that swirl around inside this "leaking" black hole I refer to as my mind: 

A LIGHT SUBJECT 

Relativity physics clearly demonstrates that when a fast moving object emits light waves, the fast moving object can neither accelerate nor 
decelerate the light.  Simply put, a moving object cannot change the speed of light.  Thus, if a spacecraft streaked away from Earth at 
99.99999 % the speed of light, and one pointed a flashlight in the direction of flight, the light would NOT go forward (relative to Earth 
viewers) faster than the speed of light, rather it would only go O.OOOO1 % faster than the spacecraft.  Likewise, if the flashlight were 
pointed out the rear of the spacecraft, the light would not be slowed down because the light would leave the ship instantaneously, and it 
would therefore arrive at Earth traveling 186,282.396 M. P. H., just as though it been sent from a stationary object at the same spot.  {However, 
the elongated light waves from the speeding spacecraft would reach Earth red shifted to the limit of the spectrum!} 

Okay, considering the above paragraph, think about this one:  Starship Enterprise is chasing an uncloaked Klingon vessel with both ships going 
FIVE TIMES THE SPEED OF LIGHT* (never mind for now the speed of light limitation); however, there are no nearby stars, and this region of space is so dark that Captain Kirk cannot see the Klingon vessel that is merely one-hundred meters ahead; so Kirk orders Scotty to turn on the 
headlights.  Traveling five times the speed of light, can the light beams from the Starship Enterprise catch up to the Klingon vessel?  According 
to the laws of physics, the answer is NO. 

Fine, then, but my question is -- where does the light GO?  One is tempted to reply:  it goes where no light has gone before.  But there is a 
better answer, one that conforms to the laws of the universe.  Do a little mind expanding with this one -- see if you can play Spock and logic this one out. 

* {The premise that nothing can travel faster than light is misleading.  First of all, space can travel faster than light.   Second, when dealing
  with physical stuff such as matter, the actual rule is this:  Nothing can ACCELERATE faster than the speed of light from one instant 
  to the next.  It's all relative to where you are from one instant to  the next.  At each instant, your speed is zero relative to every other 
  place in the universe, including the place you were the instant before.  Therefore, if you are accelerating at just 5% the speed of light, you 
  can eventually outpace light that is coming from a relatively fixed object that you left behind because you're not accelerating from that object 
  anymore; rather you are now accelerating at 5% the speed of light from the "relatively fixed" place you were during the previous instant, 
  ad infinitum.**  Ultimately you would be going faster than light (relative to the "fixed object" that you initially left behind).  And 
  that, my sweet friends, is relativity functioning at its most obvious and most fundamental level.} 

** {Time Dilation still occurs.  In the above "acceleration" scenario,  however, we have an interesting result.  Our hypothetical "spacecraft" 
    is speeding away from a "fixed point" in space (Earth, we'll say),  and it is perpetually accelerating at 5% the speed of light (relative
    to the view from Earth).  If the spacecraft travels to Betelgeuse (a star 310 light years away), then halts when it gets there, time aboard
    the ship will indeed have progressed much slower than it has back on Earth.  However, something else wonderfully "relative" also 
    occurs: Relative to time at Betelgeuse, time aboard the spacecraft has progressed much faster!  The reason is: When an object is speeding 
    away from another object, relative time between the two objects undergoes dilation and thus time slows down;  when an object is 
    speeding TOWARD another object, relative time between the two objects undergoes reverse dilation and thus time speeds up.

   Now -- just for the fun of it, guess what happens to time if we return to 
   Earth using the same acceleration rate of 5% the speed of light.}

   Note:  We will discuss what "time" really is later in this exposition. 

Back on that starry dark night in 1969, as I lay there on the ground contemplating the universe and topic of nothing ( and perhaps expecting the world to end any moment), I was thinking about the ancient Hindu and Arabian mathematicians who struggled with the "number" Zero.  Within 
their ranks arose great and raging arguments over whether Zero really existed.  Could a shepherd have Zero goats?  Could there be Zero buckets of water in a dry well?  To many of the mathematicians it was absurd to think that there could be Zero of anything.   But the number Zero was desperately needed to make accurate complex calculations.

More than a millennium after the acceptance of Zero as a "number", the nagging problems with it persisted:

     All integers can be expressed as positives +1, +2, +3, +4.... 
     or negatives -1, -2, -3, -4....
     However Zero has no positive, no negative, it is neutral.

     All integers can be added to -- or subtracted from -- other integers, 
     and the totals will yield higher or lower numbers:
     3 + 6 = 9
     7 - 3 = 4 
      
     But when Zero is added to or subtracted from another number 
     the total does not change:
     2 + 0 = 2
     5 - 0 = 5
      
     The number Zero by itself is useless in addition and subtraction.

     Zero is also useless in multiplication.  Multiply any number by a 
     different number and the total is always equal to or greater than 
     the higher number:
     47 x 1 = 47
       3 x 6 = 18

     However, if you multiply Zero times another number, the total is always Zero:
      0 x 528 = 0

     Division by Zero is even worse.  All other numbers from one to a 
     zillion-zillion-zillion, ad infinitum,  can be divided into each 
     other; however Zero cannot be divided into any number, not even 
     itself.  Division by Zero is forbidden, and 20th Century computers 
     regularly crashed whenever a program glitch attempted to execute 
     such a division.  (By the 21st Century humans finally made computers that
     just ignored the problem of dividing by zero, always yielding a zero.)

Therefore, the number Zero worked only within a special set of rules.  And this is perhaps where humankind has erred.  We've greatly neglected and ignored the need for the numerical balance of a positive Zero and a negative Zero.  As a result, we've been hopelessly bound to a flawed mathematical system that will never allow us to evolve beyond  21st Century understanding the mysteries of the universe. 

It would seem we are doomed to live in cerebral darkness.  However (ta-da), one lone person called the Astronomer Guy envisioned the 
mathematical need for a positive Zero and a negative Zero.

You see, there is one key problem with neutral Zero:  The problem is, neutral Zero is not a number.  It is a natural phenomenon.  Numbers and 
mathematical equations are creations of the human mind.  Zero is not merely the creation of one's mind, it is the sum total of all that 
exists in the Universe.   Zero is the nothingness that remains after our universe annihilates itself, (the mutual nullification of all of its 
parts). 

The BZ Model: HOW THE MASTER UNIVERSE BEGAN 
 

In the beginning there was a literal nothingness.  A zilch.  Nothing existed, not even time or space. 

Step One:  Zha-zam!  Gawww-lee!  Zero (the nothingness) spits in half.  Half of nothing is something, and therefore our physical universe has blinked into existence.  During this first instant of the Master Universe everything is one-dimensional and our physical universe consists of two one-dimensional segments: positive and negative.  However, our universe at this instant is nothing more than an infinite geometric line with a plus side and a minus side.  Our universe is devoid of height and depth.  At this point there are two balanced segments:

           1.positive
           2.negative

Step Two:  (So far time does not exist, and so steps one-two-three-four occur simultaneously.)  Both segments (positive and negative), split in 
half, and each half is rendered either 2D-space or reverse-2D-space. The space/reverse-space phenomenon gives rise to the SECOND dimension, where both space and reverse-space are FLAT, i. e., (both have infinite width and height, but neither has depth).  Now there are four segments: 

           1. Positive space
           2. Negative space
           3. Positive reverse-space
           4. Negative reverse-space 

Step Three:  The Universe splits again, with each of the previous four segments dividing into "mass/3D-space"  (primordial matter & energy & 
space), or "anti-mass/3D-space" (primordial antimatter & anti-energy & anti-space).  The third dimension is created, and our physical universe has infinite width and height and depth.  Now there are eight segments:

           1. Positive space matter
           2. Positive space antimatter
           3. Negative space matter
           4. Negative space antimatter
           5. Positive reverse-space matter
           6. Positive reverse-space antimatter
           7. Negative reverse-space matter
           8. Negative reverse-space antimatter

Step Four:  Our universe is split again, with each of the previous eight segments dividing into plus-time or minus-time.  Plus-time runs forward,
minus-time runs backward.  Thus, the fourth dimension, time, is created, and MOTION suddenly exits in the other three dimensions.   Now there are 16 beautifully balanced segments:

            1. Positive space matter plus-time
            2. Positive space matter minus-time
            3. Positive space antimatter plus-time
           4. Positive space antimatter minus-time
            5. Negative space matter plus-time
            6. Negative space matter minus-time
            7. Negative space antimatter plus-time
            8. Negative space antimatter minus-time
            9. Positive reverse-space matter plus-time
           10. Positive reverse-space matter minus-time
           11. Positive reverse-space antimatter plus-time
           12. Positive reverse-space antimatter minus-time
           13. Negative reverse-space matter plus-time
           14. Negative reverse-space matter minus-time
           15. Negative reverse-space antimatter plus-time
           16. Negative reverse-space antimatter minus-time

Step Five: The universe splits into hyper-realities, with each of the previous 16 segments dividing into a set of alpha-hyper-realities or a
set of beta-hyper-realities.  Now there are 32 segments of the universe:

        The 1st segment (our segment) is called: 
        positive space matter plus-time alpha-hyper-reality.
               PSMPA

        The 2nd segment is called:
        positive space matter plus-time beta-hyper-reality.
               PSMPB

  And so on until....

        The 32nd segment is called:
        negative reverse-space antimatter minus-time beta-hyper-reality.
               NRAMB
 

Hyper-realities provide each segment with its own set of physical laws.  Also, Hyper-realities keep the 32 segments "buffered," (a form of mutual repulsion), thus avoiding instant mutual annihilation.

Note:  "Repulsion" is not precisely what occurs.  Each reality is instantaneously cycled on and off, as was explained prior to this essay.  However, the instantaneous cycling of realities functions similar to a repelling force because the cycling keeps the 32 realities from "touching" each other.

Hyper-realities force each segment to function as a separate DIMENSION, each with sub-dimensions of height, width, depth & MOTION*.

* {In the BZ model MOTION & TIME** are regarded as the same thing.  Without time, motion cannot exist; without motion, time cannot exist. 
  Neither would have a purpose/function -- no job to do -- without the other.  Time & motion precisely describe the same process.  They ARE 
  the same thing.

  Likewise, in the BZ model the four fundamental forces of nature are locked into time & motion and are regarded as the same thing.  The 
  four forces cannot function without time & motion, and time & motion are inert without the forces.  Time & Motion & the Four Fundamental 
  Forces are inseparable -- because they ARE the same thing.  They are defined as separate entities in human minds for the same abstract 
  reasons that humans divide things into numbers even though there are no numbers in the real universe -- we need numbers to describe what's 
  going on.  Likewise, we need terms such as "time" or "gravity" to describe what's going on, even though neither time nor gravity exist 
  as true entities.

  In the BZ model all of these events -- Time & Motion & Gravity & Strong Interaction & Weak Interaction &  Electromagnetism -- are
  a continuum, and they are collectively called "motion," because motion describes everything that "happens" in the   universe.}

** {TIME, as perceived by humans, is the measurement of the duration of an  event.
     TIME in the universe is not quite the same.  The universe does not measure duration of events.  Time in the universe is a result
      we witness whenever MOTION occurs***.  Time does not cause  motion to exist, motion causes time to exist.}

*** {The MOTION of any object -- an electron, a photon, a star, a galaxy -- is an event in which space is "warped" to accommodate
      the intrusion of the object.  The degree to which space is warped is contingent upon the mass (and the VELOCITY****) of the object.
      An object the size and mass of Jupiter passing near Earth would severely warp nearby space and spin our planet away from its orbit.
      The nearer the object came, the greater the eccentricity of the ensuing Earth orbit.  We call this warping effect "gravity."  It is, 
       however, merely a body in motion that is warping space as it goes.}

**** {The FASTER the object MOVES toward or away from us, the more time (actually, not time, but distance) is warped.  However
     VELOCITY is not "time."  Velocity is the relative rate of motion between two or more objects.  And it is therefore more proper to say
     that TIME/DISTANCE IS WARPED by the RATE OF MOTION.  (Note: distance and space are not the same thing.  Space is 
     "something" and it's three-dimensional,  whereas distance in neither.  Distance is a one-dimensional variable that responds to the
      warping effect between two or more objects that are in relative motion to one another.) 

     Light, for example, that travels great distances is greatly red shifted (the light waves are elongated).  In the Big Bang model 
     galactic light is believed to be red shifted due to expansion of the universe.  However, in the BZ model the red shifted light of far away 
     galaxies is accounted for in three ways: 

     1) Red shifting (light retardation) is proportional to the mass of the source object. 

     2) Red shifting is proportional to the the distance the light travels.  This is because the greater the distance, the greater 
        the number of galactic gravity pools (and unseen gravity pools such as huge gobs of dark matter) that are tugging on
        (warping) the light.   Every particle and every iota of energy the light wave encounters further bends and stretches it
        (flattens and elongates it) ever so slightly -- thus red shifting the light relative to the location of the observer  who is
         viewing the approaching light. 

     3) The massive gravity pools not only retard the light, but also they warp TIME and DISTANCE.  Thus, relative to an observer 
        viewing the approaching light, the light is even further  red shifted.  This is because as DISTANCE warps, it elongates.
        When DISTANCE is stretched in this fashion, TIME must "speed up" to keep things moving along at the same pace relative to the 
        observer's view.  This phenomenon conforms to reverse time dilation. (When an object is in motion, time slows relative to 
        the place it left behind, but time speeds up relative to the place the object is approaching -- which in this example is the 
        place where an observer is viewing the approaching light.) 

     Time and the speed of light are now in perfect balance -- when Time speeds up, light waves lengthen because they have less time to 
     traverse a given distance.  When time slows down, light waves shorten because they have more time to traverse a given distance.

     Thus, in the BZ model, red shifting of light need not be entirely related to the recession speed of a source object. 

     (Though in our Local Galaxy Group the red shift & blue shift of those particular galaxies is greatly due to the recession & approach as 
     they execute elliptical orbits around a common center of gravity.  Also, because their distance is so relatively nearby, the 
     aforementioned warping effect is insufficient to have much influence on their observed light.)

     As a result, the expanding universe that followed the Big Bang seems  almost irrelevant within the dynamics of the BZ model.  Though the
     expansion does occur,  it plays no major role in the macro-structure of a non-finite Master Universe populated by sub universes.  A 
     physical sub universe, such as the one we live in, dances to the music of the Master Universe; and the sub rules of physics we observe
     are nothing more than that -- sub rules.}

Finally, Hyper-realities force the 32 dimensions of the Master Universe to separate and open like an iris diaphragm (not literally).  When the iris diaphragm closes, the 32 dimensions of our physical universe cancel out each other, and everything and returns to Zero.  (Nothing).

Note:  The 32 dimensions of the Master Universe are not literally separated physically, they simultaneously co-exist in the same "space" 
throughout infinity.  This condition does not violate the physical laws in any dimension because all 32 dimensions exist on the same plane but 
in different realities (32 different hyper-realities). 
 

That pretty much wraps it up for now.   I sincerely hope you had fun with this episode.   The remaining episodes are far less theoretical in nature, focusing more on what is presently known about the history of galaxies, stars, planet Earth, life on Earth, and the fossil record of humans.   Albeit, we will flirt with some dynamic thinking.

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