"Elegant Universe" w/ Brian Green

[CrispyQ]

Stunning!! That's all I can say after seeing the first 2 episodes of this WONDERFUL series.

I don't believe in God, but if I did, I would be able to reconcile a belief in a Creator with the theories expressed in this series. I would expect that a Creator, a Creator that I could respect, admire & look up to, would have some kind of 'grand plan' for 'Intelligent Design.' My definition of a Creator (if there is one) is open ended, unconventional, all encompassing. It is not limited, not diminished by human definitions & perceptions.

A friend of mine recently said: I can not believe that God created such incredible diversity on our world & in the universe, only to limit the way that we worship/perceive God in very limited ways.

NOVA: The Elegant Universe:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.html

[Liberal Veteran]

1. Is it wrong that I found myself attracted to him?

I am so going to hell.

[Ilsa]

3. He's a cutie, for sure.

I love the programs he narrates. Great series.

[Spinzonner]

2. Not His best work

You know how it goes, you have to throw a few away before you get it right.

We're actually in the dustbin of creations.

[brainshrub]

4. I saw all three episodes last night.

I hate to say this... but I wasn't impressed.

After 3 hours of watching, I am still no closer to understanding what a "string" is... and apparently the whole theory is unprovable anyways.

[Spinzonner]

5. Sure it is

All we have to do is take the universe apart and see how it works.

They didn't say it would be easy ...

[oneighty]

6. Yes.

I watched that program too. It is the reason I lay awake thinking about 'Black Holes'.

Also I am wondering about the 'String'. Is the 'String' really pure energy? Does it have mass? If it does not have mass at what point when two or more strings combine to form a particle does mass then spring into being? And why?

Eleven dimensions? Strings bouncing around in dimensions? Zipping back and forth in space/time/and many dimensions.

And binding energy? What is the binding energy released when atoms are fissioned? Is that energy 'strings'? Is binding energy also released in fusion?

This is fun. I think!

180

[Salviati]

9. Not neccicarly unprovable, we just haven't found out how to yet...

Basicly, what the idea behind a string is is as follows:

Before string theory, it was assumed that the fundimental building blocks of everything were point particles, that is a particle that is essentially a geometric point, taking up no volume.

This leads to some problems when trying to reconcile quantum mecanics with gravity, because partilces of zero size are allowed to interact with each other at zero distance. This isn't a problem in QM, as it is known how to deal with these interactions, but with gravity, interactions at zero distance cause big problems, that no one knows how to deal with.

Enter String Theory. ST postulates that the fundimental building blocks are not zero dimentional geomentric points, but in fact have some extent to them, a one dimentional "length". This eliminates the problem with the zero distance interactions in gravity, and with a lot of work, it is possible to use the theory to describe the interations we saw in QM as well.

[MatrixEscape]

7. One can wonder

just how much our theories of life, the Universe, and everything, reflect us, as the observer. We filter it all through sense perceptions that register in the brain. Then we utlize mind with accumulated knowledge to analyse, (break down) and then sythesize it, subject to consensus.

We find a practical way,(in the West, especially) to seperate ourselves from the Ground, and use language to support that: subject, verb, object. Then, we apply conciousness, and appear to observe what we are already very intimately an inseperable part of.

[Salviati]

10. Certainly our theorys are a socal construct...

but the nature of what we are observing is not, so even if completely alien obervers were devising theorys to model the universe, they may be different, but they'd have to be equivilant at some level, because they are a description of the same thing...

[DebJ]

8. I do believe in God, and Elegant Universe hit me so hard that

I ran out and bought the DVD....something I rarely do...and got the book for Christmas last year.
As I saw the show on PBS last year, my first response was: there is God! Perhaps there are 11 dimensions, and we can only experience four. Like someone blind (or deaf) from birth, who can not experience light/color (or sound), we can not 'experience' the other 8 dimensions, which coexist right here. God exists 'everywhere'...in dimensions we can not experience as humans.. and so 'no man can see the face of God and live' ...because we can not see into other dimensions in our current form.
Strings...the energy of God...the love of God flowing throughout all creation.
I regret not taking physics now. Perhaps I will have to go take a course!