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Reference: Essays on Substance

Michelson-Morley’s Null Result

The prevailing aether theory at the time of the Michelson-Morley experiment in 1887 was that a hypothetical medium called luminiferous aether permeated all of space. This theory posited that:

1. Aether was a stationary substance that filled empty space.
2. Light waves required this aether as a medium to propagate, similar to how water waves need water and sound waves need air.
3. The Earth was believed to move through this stationary aether as it orbited the Sun.

This theory predicted that the Earth’s motion through the aether would create an “aether wind,” which would affect the speed of light in different directions relative to Earth’s movement. The Michelson-Morley experiment was designed to detect this aether wind by measuring potential differences in the speed of light traveling in perpendicular directions. 

The expected difference between the speed of light in the direction of movement through the presumed aether, and the speed at right angles, was found not to exist. The null results from Michelson-Morley experiment initiated a line of research that eventually led to Einstein’s theory of Special Relativity. The special relativity then ruled out a stationary aether, and postulated the velocity of light to be absolute.

According to the theory of Substance, there has to be substance filling existing space. In the absence of matter and energy, it has to be some undefined substance, which we may call aether. The consistency of this aether is very likely many orders of magnitude lesser than the consistency of light. Therefore, it would offer no resistance to the movement of either light or Earth.

Earth is made of solid particles (atoms), whereas, light is made of gaseous particles (not waves in some medium). The only resistance that Earth and light would encounter is due to their respective inertia. Newton defined inertia  as follows:

“The vis insita, or innate force of matter, is a power of resisting by which every body, as much as in it lies, endeavours to preserve its present state, whether it be of rest or of moving uniformly forward in a straight line.”

The inertia balances the respective motions of Earth and light, such that, their respective velocities are constant. Therefore, the ratio of their velocities shall be the inverse of the ratio of their inertia or consistencies. According to The Spectrum of Substance, the consistency of light is around 49, and the consistency of Earth (average per particle) is around 80. 

The difference in their consistencies is 31, which gives us a ratio of 2³¹ or about 10⁹. The Earth’s drift speed in space is 10^-9 times the speed of light, or less than half a meter per second.

The Michelson-Morley’s experiment is then required to detect a velocity difference of less than half a meter per second in the velocity of light (3 x 10⁸ m/s) due to the difference in motions of the Earth. This would be a shift in fringes of the order of 10^-9 meters. That is of the order of the size of an atom. This explains the null result produced by Michelson-Morley experiment.

NOTE: The consistency of earth may be underestimated here. It may require much greater precision than 10^-9 meters to detect a shift in the fringes obtained.

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Reference: Essays on Substance

Substance and Time

The classical understanding of Time is as follows:

Time is the eternally durable, unchanging background of the universe. Against that background all things in the universe are changing in a cyclic fashion This generates the idea of past present and future. Time moves in a continuous, irreversible succession from the past through the present and into the future. This gives us a dimension of time that is absolute and universal. Events can be considered to occur simultaneously across all of space. There is a natural measure of temporal duration between any two instants. In short, time provides a framework for understanding and measuring the duration and sequence of events.

In light of The Spectrum of Substance, the time of substance can be measured in terms of the cycles associated with the substance. We can visualize one long cycle of aether, simultaneous to which there are many cycles of energy. Furthermore, simultaneous to each cycle of energy there are many cycles of matter. The higher is the frequency, the more enduring is the substance at a location in space. This gives us an actual “spectrum of time” in terms of the endurance of substance. Thus, matter persists for a long time, and energy is fleeting in comparison. 

In short, the consistency of substance, which is higher for higher frequency, is also a measure of the endurance of substance. If the consistency decreases, increasing its motion, the substance becomes less enduring in terms of time. The greater is the consistency, the lesser is the motion, and the more enduring is the substance in space. The consistency provides an index of how condensed and enduring a substance is.

Newtonian physics assumes instantaneous awareness across the universe in which matter is enduring indefinitely; whereas space has no existence.

Einsteinian physics assumes awareness to be constrained by the speed of light. This results in simultaneous events across the universe being perceived with delays depending on the position of a material observer in space. The endurance of matter now becomes dependent on the relative motion of the material observer.

But substance has its own spectrum of endurance (time) in the universe, which is independent of the localized and limited (subjective) awareness of the observer.

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Reference: Essays on Substance

In the book, One Hundred Authors Against Einstein, Einstein was criticized for not providing the philosophic foundations for his work on General Relativity. The philosophic foundation for the Theory of Substance rests on the following statements:

1. We can know only what we can sense. We then interpret that sensation.
2. Any interpretation of what we sense is real to the degree that it is continuous, consistent and harmonious with the rest of reality.
3. All reality is continuous, consistent and harmonious in its nature. This property is called ONENESS.
4. ONENESS is part of the very derivation of the word UNIVERSE.
5. Even God is characterized as ONE.

From this foundation flows all logic and the concept of truth and the scientific method.

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ONENESS

Oneness comes about as substantiality is assimilated in awareness. With assimilation comes about harmony of awareness. With increasing harmony comes about consistency. And, with increasing consistency comes about continuity. Oneness lies in the harmony of relations, consistency of realities, and continuity of dimensions. Oneness underlies the very concept of the Universe. It is the key to Scientific Method. Oneness is not a monotone canvas; but it is a beautiful painting full of colors and forms that are harmonious, consistent and continuous.

Oneness is erroneously identified with sameness. From the cosmic scale down to the atomic scale, everything is one.

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LOGIC

Oneness gives us the ideal scene for logic.

The violation of oneness gives us anomalies, such as, discontinuity (missing data), inconsistency (contradictory data), and disharmony (arbitrary data).

This is infinity-valued logic as compared to binary or multi-valued logic.

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TRUTH

Oneness also provides the criterion for truth.

The relative truth depends on the absence of anomalies.

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THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

The core of the Scientific Method is the CONSISTENCY of experimental results with the actual reality that we observe. This consistency appears as CONTINUITY at very small atomic scales, and as HARMONY at very large cosmic scales. The Scientific Method insists on establishing continuity, consistency and harmony among all elements of a physical phenomena, but this is equally applicable to metaphysical phenomenon.

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