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Return to E-mail Discussion page Previous in threadNext in thread Todd, thank you for this. What I don't understand is why the spacetime in the small SHOULD answer to the rules of the large. Obviously, volume matters in forming characteristics, in biology as in physics (presumably). Is this not assumed? Is GR supposed to apply with the space of an atom? That seems counterintuitive to me. And, while GR is itself supposed to be counterintuitive with its time/space warping results, I admit that it does not seem so to me and that, further, despite this general consensus, intuition still seems to frequently play a part in scientific theory and discovery. I did read the Wikipedia entry on Quantum Physics and couldn't understand it well. There is a section that talks about the attempts to free quantum theory from a fixed OR dynamic background, but again, I have to ask, is it not obvious that space and time won't display the same properties within an atom as they do around 8 Billion atoms. Do the attempts around a unified theory say that, if this is so, if the nature of spacetime changes with volume to require different description, this new view should naturally come out of the equations? And since it doesn't, we're back to square one? So, not that spacetime around an atom needs to behave identically to spacetime around a planet but only that, whatever difference does exist should be integral to the equations that describe spacetime, as they should apply across to board to all volumes. I understand this as well but then I still feel like asking the question over anyway. SHOULDN'T there be a difference between the two views. My theory (please excuse the arrogance) is that QFT *describes* spacetime and so is necessarily dependent on a "fixed background," since any observation of field properties is also a snapshot of spacetime in the making. Outside of the minute world, the combined effect of "fixed background" phenomena produces the familiar GR theory of gravity. That is, the pixels that are the individual events of spacetime are alone when observed in QFT and only have properties in themselves without making a full picture, but when together form a conglomerate image. And the fact that it appears for Quantum work to be necessary to work within traditional spacetime is something we impose on it. Quantum events take place in what appears to us as spacetime because *we* exist in macro spacetime. But the events themselves do not have to account for this macromorph, because they are its building blocks. From the great ignorance from which I observe this topic, it feels as if the reconciliation between quantum theory and general relativity attempts to place GR squarely within the quantum domain. But to my mind, that's like trying to put the entirety of a large inflatable ball inside each of its plastic molecules. Or to ask that the properties of a green plant leaf be fed at the beginning of the biological equation, into the properties of the germinating seed and root. I am spewing all this out so someone may tell me where I am wrong and so we can continue to clarify. Thanks again, Todd, for your initial post in answer to my question. Maya |
