Category Archives: Postulate Mechanics

The Basis of Scientific Method

January 8, 2025 – 1:43 PM

Reference: Essays on Substance

The Basis of Scientific Method

The Scientific Method was described earlier at

The Scientific Method

The following 12 aspects of mindfulness form the basis of the Scientific Method. Mindfulness provides the discipline for looking and contemplation.

1. Observe without getting influenced by your expectations and desires.

Desires make one want certain outcomes. This leads to speculations that have no basis other than one’s expectations. But it is only when you know what is there can you predict future in a reasonable and consistent manner.

2. Observe things as they are, without assuming anything.

Familiarity makes one assume certain things to be there. Such assumptions can take the form of beliefs, convictions, biases, fixed ideas, etc. The visualization is already there in the mind, and it gets superimposed over what is actually there. However familiar something may be, it is never permanent, and it may not actually be there.

3. If something is missing do not imagine something else in its place.

If something is missing, then recognize that it is missing. Do not imagine something in its place. If someone asks you a question and no answer come up in your mind, then do not feel obliged to make up an answer. Accept that you do not have an answer.

4. If something does not make sense, then do not explain it away.

If something does not make sense, then recognize that it does not make sense. Do not try to justify it. Justification simply puts the blame somewhere without resolving the inconsistency. When you are faced with an inconsistency, and you feel an impulse to explain it away, then be alert to what you might be taking for granted. At times it may take some out-of-the-box thinking to realize what is going on.

5. Use physical senses as well as the mental sense to observe.

We associate the idea of sense organs with eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body. We use them to observe physical objects, such as, chair, car, house, etc. However, the mind is also a sense organ, which senses ideas, thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc. These are mental objects. When being mindful, recognize both physical and mental objects for what they are.

6. Let the mind un-stack itself.

Let the mind un-stack itself naturally through patient contemplation on whatever comes up. Observe the issue uppermost in the mind, and then the next, and the next. Let the mind deal with issues in the order it wants to. There should be no effort to recall, to dig for answers, or to interfere with the mind in any way. Simply look at what is right there in front of the mind’s eye at any moment. The mind will never present anything overwhelming when allowed to un-stack itself.

7. Experience fully what is there.

Experiencing is the deepest form of mindfulness. A person is deeply mindful of his feelings, emotions and impulses when he is experiencing them. So, dive into the very heart of whatever arises in the mind without resisting. If the mind is racing, then experience it racing without contributing to it.

8. Do not suppress anything from yourself.

Not suppressing anything from yourself is being totally honest with yourself. Follow your attention wherever it goes and do not suppress. Do not avoid something just because it seems shameful or painful. It is the suppression of perceptions, memories, knowledge, visualizations, thinking, etc., that causes all difficulties in life. By not suppressing you establish complete integrity of your perceptions.

9. Associate data freely.

In order to practice mindfulness, you will have to let your mind associate data freely. Mindfulness is being comfortable with the very activity of thinking itself. So, let the mind associate data freely on its own.

10. Do not get hung up on name and form.

Name acts as a broad reference point to something. Form is one of the many ways that a thing may be represented. The perception of a thing goes beyond its name and form. Fixation on name and form may act as built-in judgment of what is there. To know something, one must go beyond name and form and look at it more closely including all its associations.

11. Contemplate thoughtfully.

When mindfulness is practiced, thinking becomes contemplation. Problems are solved by looking at them non-judgmentally and recognizing the relationships. One looks around to get the missing information instead of trying to “figure it out”.

12. Let it all be effortless.

When you let it be, it becomes effortless. Effort comes into play only when there is resistance to letting it be. It is completely safe when you let the body and mind unwind gradually on their own. Trouble occurs only when you become anxious and start to dig for answers.

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By vinaire | Comments (0)

Special Relativity & Time

January 7, 2025 – 9:29 PM

Reference: Essays on Substance

Special Relativity & Time

The following essay is based on Chapter III, Section 1 “Astronomer Royal’s Time” of the book, “The Nature of the Physical World” by A. S. EDDINGTON. Eddington conducted an expedition to observe the solar eclipse of 29 May 1919 on the Island of Príncipe that provided one of the earliest confirmations of general relativity, and he became known for his popular expositions and interpretations of the theory.

Eddington starts this section by pointing out how time is perceived for everyday use is so very different from the time we sense subjectively. The fact is that the time for everyday use is based on the behavior of matter; but the time that we sense subjectively is based on the behavior of our thoughts. We may say that changes in matter provide the perception of “matter-time” for everyday use; and changes in thought provide the perception of “thought-time” that we have consciousness of. 

The matter-time has been woven into the structure of the classical physical scheme. But it is not the same as the thought-time that we are conscious of. The difference becomes obvious when we are waiting in the doctor’s office; the time appears to pass very slowly.

Eddington talks about how Einstein’s theory links the nature of time to the nature of space. This means matter-time has the same relationship with matter-space, as thought-time has with thought-space. Eddington identifies thought-time as “interval,” but it is actually “thought-interval” and not “matter-interval.” When we represent the enduring world as a three-dimensional space leaping from instant to instant through time, we are relating matter-space to matter-interval, and not to thought-interval.

Eddington then considers the situation, “If two people meet twice they must have lived the same time between the two meetings, even if one of them has travelled to a distant part of the universe and back in the interim.” In this case, the thought-interval will be very different for the two people, but their matter-interval will be the same.

Eddington then states, “If the speed of travel is very great we may find that, whilst the stay-at-home individual has aged 70 years, the traveler has aged 1 year.” This is obviously false because body would respond to the matter-interval, which is the same for both individuals. This confusion is due to incomplete math of the special theory of relativity, which does not take into account the relationship between speed and rigidity of substance.

Matter will not stay matter at terrific speeds. It will reduce to electromagnetic radiation. The math of Special relativity is applicable only  within the range of speeds that matter can have; and that too approximately.

It is interesting to see an established scientist misinterpreting the incomplete mathematics of a theory.

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By vinaire | Comments (2)

Second Postulate of Relativity

January 7, 2025 – 6:29 AM

Reference: Essays on Substance

Second Postulate of Relativity

Let’s look at the second postulate underlying relativity.

(2) The speed of light in a vacuum is the same for all observers, regardless of the motion of the light source or the observer.

The speed of light may be compared to the ratio of the average wavelength of light to the average wavelength of an atom. We calculated that ratio using the wavelength of a nucleon (instead of an atom) to be 4 x 108. It is in the same ballpark. See

The Rigidity of Mass

When we look from one end of the EM spectrum to the other, this ratio varies as follows:

For longest radio wave: 2^(77.6-1.6) = 7.5 x 1022
For shortest gamma ray: 2^(77.6-66.6) = 2 x 103

Apparently, there is a large variation in the speed of EMR, but we use the speed of visible light as our standard.

The speed of visible light is about 3 x 108 times the speed of matter. This ratio is so large that it is practically constant relative to any inertial frame of matter. For this reason, the theory of relativity works, but it works relative to material frames of reference only.

It does not work that effieciently when we consider the electron’s frame of reference.

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By vinaire | Comments (0)

First postulate of Relativity

January 6, 2025 – 2:47 PM

Reference: Essays on Substance

First postulate of Relativity

The mathematics of a physicist is self-consistent logic that he has applied to his starting postulates to arrive at certain approximate conclusions. Mathematics being a tool may be left to mathematicians to sharpen. Where physics is concerned, one should examine the starting postulates and conclusions that are arrived at by a physicist against the continuity, consistency and harmony of reality.

Let’s look at the first postulate underlying relativity.

(1) The laws of physics are the same in all inertial frames of reference.

An inertial frame of reference is a fundamental concept in classical physics and special relativity. It is defined as a reference frame in which objects not subjected to external forces either remain at rest or move with constant velocity in a straight line. This definition is closely tied to Newton’s first law of motion, also known as the law of inertia.

Key characteristics of an inertial frame of reference include:

  1. No acceleration: The frame itself is not undergoing any acceleration.
  2. Uniform motion: Any frame moving at a constant velocity relative to an inertial frame is also an inertial frame.
  3. Consistency of physical laws: The laws of physics, particularly Newton’s laws of motion, hold true and have the same form in all inertial frames.

In practical terms, an inertial frame of reference can be understood through examples:

  • A stationary train platform
  • A car traveling at constant speed on a straight road
  • A motionless ramp down which objects can roll

It’s important to note that the concept of an inertial frame is an idealization. In reality, truly inertial frames are rare due to the presence of gravitational fields and other forces. However, many situations can be approximated as inertial frames for practical purposes.

The concept of inertial frames is crucial in physics because it provides a foundation for describing motion and applying the laws of mechanics consistently. It also plays a significant role in the development of more advanced theories, such as special relativity, which generalizes the notion of inertial frames to include all physical laws, not just Newton’s first law.

In general relativity, the concept of inertial frames is only applicable locally. This means that inertial frames are well-defined in infinitesimal neighborhoods of spacetime points. In curved spacetime, there are no global inertial frames that extend throughout all of space and time.

General relativity incorporates Einstein’s equivalence principle, which states that no experiment can distinguish between a frame in gravitational free-fall and an inertial frame. This principle effectively extends the notion of inertial frames to include freely falling reference frames in gravitational fields.

In general relativity, the laws of physics are expressed in a way that is covariant under all coordinate transformations, not just the Lorentz transformations of special relativity. This means that the form of physical laws remains invariant under any smooth change of coordinates, reflecting the principle that the laws of physics should be the same for all observers, regardless of their state of motion or choice of coordinate system.

Free particles in general relativity follow geodesics, which are the curved spacetime equivalent of straight lines in flat spacetime. The principle that free particles follow geodesics replaces the notion of uniform motion in straight lines from special relativity.

In sufficiently small regions of spacetime, the effects of curvature become negligible, and the laws of physics reduce to those of special relativity. This is known as the principle of local flatness, which allows for the local application of special relativistic concepts in general relativity.

By generalizing the concept of inertial frames and incorporating the effects of gravity into the structure of spacetime itself, general relativity maintains the spirit of the original postulate while adapting it to a more comprehensive understanding of the universe.

CRITICISM

  1. Einstein applies the inertial frames of reference to matter only and not to all substance. His viewpoint is matter-centric. Please see: The Matter-Centric Fixation
  2. Einstein ignores inertia when considering relative speeds. In reality, light can be considered to travel at speed ‘c’ relative to matter; but matter cannot be considered to travel at speed ‘c’ relative to light.

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By vinaire | Comments (0)

Testing a Theory

January 6, 2025 – 12:42 PM

Reference: Essays on Substance

Testing a Theory

A theory is as sound as the postulates it stands on. The postulates underlying the theory of relativity are:

  1. The laws of physics are the same in all inertial frames of reference.
  2. The speed of light in a vacuum is the same for all observers, regardless of the motion of the light source or the observer.

The soundness of the theory of relativity depends on the soundness of these two postulates.

Similarly, the postulates underlying quantum mechanics (its key principles) are:

  1. Wave Function Postulate: The state of a quantum system is completely described by a wave function Ψ(r,t), which contains all accessible physical information about the system.
  2. Observables and Operators: Every observable quantity in quantum mechanics is represented by a linear, Hermitian operator.
  3. Measurement Postulate: When measuring an observable associated with operator A, only the eigenvalues that satisfy the eigenvalue equation will be observed.
  4. Expectation Values: The average value of an observable for a system in a normalized state Ψ is given by the expectation value of the corresponding operator.
  5. Time Evolution: The wave function of a system evolves in time according to the time-dependent Schrödinger equation.
  6. Pauli Exclusion Principle: The total wave function of a system with N spin-1/2 particles (fermions) must be antisymmetric with respect to the interchange of all coordinates of one particle with those of another.
  7. Superposition Principle: Quantum systems can exist in a superposition of states, exhibiting wave-particle duality.

The soundness of quantum mechanics depends on the soundness of these postulates.

I have examined the soundness of the above postulates to some degree in layman terms. We can evaluate their soundness in mathematical terms too.

I have no quarrel with mathematics. The mathematics is a system of very specialized self-consistent logic. The trouble comes when mathematics is interfaced with reality. The mathematics should be applied to physics in a way that it is consistent with reality. That is the principle of the Scientific Method. The scientific method views reality as continuous, consistent and harmonious.

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