As shown in the paper, The Logic of Reality, conflating energy with substance has caused much confusion about reality. The starting point of reality has always been substance. Of course, matter is substance, but light is no less a substance. It impacts our senses the same way that matter does.
This is, however, contrary to the current scientific view, which is based on quantum reality. The quantum reality assumes that light has no substance (mass).
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Substantiality and Mass
As explained in Void and Space, we contrast the physical phenomena from the background void by its impact on our senses. The essence of that impact is FORCE. That force is also felt when we try to push something. By the magnitude of that force we know how substantial a physical phenomenon is.
Newton characterized this substantiality as the innate force of MATTER. He named it INERTIA. Inertia appears as resistance when external force is applied to a material object. The object moves under the influence of the applied force while resisting it. This inertial resistance is there even when there is no friction. Try pushing a heavy iron ball that is suspended from the ceiling.
Under the influence of externally applied force the motion of the object increases. To increase the rate of motion the applied force must be increased proportionally. Increase in force is also necessary to compensate for increase in substantiality of the object. This substantiality is measured as MASS. The concepts of mass and inertia are crucial to the understanding of matter.
Matter is understood in terms of mass (substantiality) and inertia (internal resistance).
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Substantiality of Light
Matter is the starting concept in physics because of its substantiality. That is why it is called substance. A substance is recognized because of its impact on our senses. Matter has impact on our senses in terms of inertia. The substantiality of matter is measured in terms of mass.
Light also has impact on our senses, therefore, it is substantial. Newton did recognize light as a substance by advancing a corpuscular theory, but that got overridden by a wave theory, which looked at light as a disturbance in a hypothetical medium called aether. This characterized light as “energy”. Thus, light was defined as the energy of a substance called aether.
When Einstein discovered light quanta, he essentially restored the substantial nature of light. There was no esoteric medium called aether. Light was an ephemeral substance that moved like a wave. But Einstein retained the idea of light quanta as a “packet of energy” based on the wave theory. This implied that “energy” was a kind of substance. This was a departure from Newtonian idea of energy, which required the notion of substance (or mass) as a prerequisite.
The substantiality of light is defined in terms of energy and not mass.
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Mass and Energy
Currently, Science does not recognize light as a substance, but considers it to be “pure energy”. As conceived originally, energy relates to motion, or tension, of substance (mass). It is inconsistent to conceive of “pure motion, tension or energy”, without substance (mass).
Einstein should have conceived of light is an extremely fast moving substance. Just because one can measure the energy of light, but not mass, does not mean that light has no mass.
Einstein’s assumption that light has no mass is a valid approximation only because the mass of light is infinitesimal compared to the mass of matter. This can be seen from calculating the mass of light by Einstein’s famous equation, E = mc2.
Disregard of the logic of substance (mass) has created confusion between the concepts of mass and energy at quantum levels. This brings confusion to the very concept of substantiality.
By stating that light is energy with no mass, Einstein characterized energy as substance (mass). This is confusing to say the least.
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