Forces of Nature

Thoughts On Gravitation

Why is it that isolated bits of matter, things like stars, planets, etc., exert a force of attraction on each other, whereas connected objects such as pencils, apples, or individual planets and moons are stable?

The answer is of course that no material object is stable : all connected pieces of matter aspire under the action of their own gravitational self-attraction to implode into Black Holes!

Stated otherwise there is something intrinsic to matter that, if left unchecked, would quickly reduce all of it, space, and time as well, to Nothingness.

Furthermore when an object becomes a Black Hole all individuating characteristics are reduced to just 4 parameters: mass, angular, momentum, radius and charge. Were gravity not reined in by other forces, the stupendous diversity of the university would descend into the anonymity of 4, and only 4, parameters.

Starting from this one concludes that the entire gravity-driven universe is dominated by an urge to self-consumption and self-annihilation. Were it not for the existence of counter-balancing forces of Electromagnetism, the Weak and the Strong force, everything around us would instantly, ( within a few seconds ) collapse into many trillions upon trillions of Black Holes. In fact, every atom would collapse under its own gravitation force. Without the counter-balancing action of the other forces of nature, neither space , time, nor matter would exist in the first place!

In this respect one might say that the universe resembles an animal's stomach. It is know that in creatures dying of starvation the stomach will begin to consume itself; eventually the whole body is cannibalized by its own relentless process of digestion. The universe appears to behave in much the same manner . It should not surprise us that Arthur Eddington went into denial and responded with irresponsible hostility when Subramanyan Chandrasekhar first presented him with the theoretical evidence for the existence of Black Holes.

One can therefor characterize the four basic forces of nature as principles of annihilation, decay, unification and connection. The Weak force is a self-debilitating slow burn of radioactive decay. In the formation of a Black Hole from a star, "implosion" in the form of gravitation overwhelms "decay" in the form of radioactivity. In the explosion of a nova, the "explosive power" of the Weak force prevails over the "contractive power" of Gravitation. The star disintegrates in both situations. Under Gravitation, the universe itself is consumed, while in the creation of a nova, the contents of the star are merely scattered. In the formation of neutron stars however, it is the Strong force which binds matter tightly together.

Even as the Strong force binds the nucleus, so Electromagnetism unites All regions of the universe . Light beams and other forms of radiation, by propagating at the limiting speed of light, transmit causal connection.

Summarizing:

  1. Electromagnetism unites space-time. Space-time regions outside the reach of light propagation are causally disconnected.

  2. The Strong force binds the nuclei of atoms, the primary constituents of matter

  3. The weak force is the driving force in the disintegration of matter.

  4. Gravity implodes the universe into itself.

Binding and unbinding, unification and destruction. Through the insights of John Dalton, the atomic theory of Democritus was vindicated. Today we must also acknowledge the fiery vision of Heraclitus: Attraction and Repulsion, "Love" and "Strife": take these away and Nothing remains.


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