Tagged: physics
Sean Conaway on time, space, and why we should all read (or reread) Calvino
by Fringe Magazine • 04.09.2012
This month’s work of fiction, “All Towards One Point,” is a sequel, of sorts, to Italo Calvino’s “All At One Point.” We may all be remnants, made of stardust, but according to author Sean Conaway, and Calvino, that might not be such a bad thing.
In theoretical physics, the anthropic principle states that the universe is the way it is because we’re here to observe it—a reductive argument, perhaps, but it simply shows that if it were any different, we wouldn’t be around to notice. Around ten thousand million years ago all was condensed to a single, microscopic point that suddenly blew outward. We’re composed from the shrapnel of a long series of explosions and collisions. We’re remnants, made of stardust, and one day all of us (and this) will set adrift again on small exhalations of heat.
Some folks consider this notion bleak, that it reduces time to meaninglessness, but taking a long view, that it took two generations of stars to create conditions suitable for life—creatures able to look back to the beginning and peer into the future—is something awesome and humbling. At least, Italo Calvino thought so, and spent the last half of his life playfully fusing science to... more »
more »All Towards One Point
by Sean Conaway • 04.09.2012
What would happen, those of us with darker imaginations would wonder, when every point became too far separated from all others? more »