Further Musings on Physics, Metaphysics and Stuff

I’m not going to pretend that I actually understand M-theory, or even that I understand what understanding it would entail, but being that M-theory is an elaboration on Superstring theory, which is an elaboration on String theory, which was an effort to reconcile Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity, there is little surprise that it’s comprehension escapes the remaining part of my brain that the zombies didn’t already eat. Incidentally, zombies violate the rules of thermodynamics, so either they don’t exist or they remain in a state of quantum superposition after the collapse of the probability wave; either way, they sadly linger as only creatures of our imagination.

According to Wikipedia, the source of all my wisdom, the M used to sort of stand for Membrane when M-theory first arose, but latter evolved to just M when it became clear that the concept of a membrane was only partially apt for the theoretical structure that the comprehensive theory proposed to use as an analog for reality. Nonetheless, M-theory is simply summed up, and I quote, as “asserting that strings are really 1-dimensional slices of a 2-dimensional membrane vibrating in 11-dimensional space.” Everything we know or can know results from this fundamental and underlying truth.

I was going to go on to P-branes and “lose ends” and such, but you can read Wikipedia just as well as I can. The thing that I find remarkable about these theoretical constructs in physics is that, however bizarre they are, they only survive the fatally selective marketplace of ideas by being mathematically consistent with what is observed. It has long been argued amongst quantum mechanics toiling in the chalk-infused filth of their subterranean lairs as to whether there really is such a physical thing as a “probability wave” or whether it is just an analog to an unobservable physical reality. There was a major insurrection in Quantum society over this very notion resulting in the emergence of “schools” of quantum thought. Are there really 2-dimensional membranes vibrating in 11-dimensional space? Hell if I know, but we are so far from really understanding even the most fundamental of realities, how can we claim knowledge of good and evil, being and nothingness, Starsky and Hutch? Like, you know, the Universe; it’s here; it’s queer; get used to it.

I have to stay away from politics as much as possible because my cerebral artery walls are weakening. Anybody who reads this blog is both bored and already knows what I think about current American politics anyway, but what about the Germans? Frau Merkel, the Chancellor of the Reich, has declared that “Germany's attempts to build a multicultural society have utterly failed.” Well, so did their attempt to build a monocultural society. What’s a Volk to do? Before you get all “who are you to judge the German people?” on me, I did live there for three years 30 some odd years ago, and I wasn’t inebriated the whole time. My observation then was that the “Guest Workers”, mostly Turks and Italians with a component of Balkan and Pan-Slav minorities, were more or less relegated to the economic and cultural fringes. As one would expect, some of this was the result of clannishness on the part of the immigrants, but I never got the sense that they were welcomed in the same way I was as a blond, blue-eyed American soldier. Perhaps this was because the Germans knew I would eventually leave, but I’m not sure that a multicultural society can be created just by dumping disparate cultures into the same physical space and expecting assimilation or some other form of equilibrium to establish itself. In the case of Germany, the principle problem is that most of their immigrants have been exclusively pursuing economic opportunity and have been viewed by the broader society as mainly inputs into an economic equation. Capitalistic views on labor combined with an innate sense of cultural superiority may not in this case be the best recipe for success. Successful multicultural societies are based upon mutual respect, acceptance and tolerance, and the ability to sometimes agree to disagree. However, tolerance without respect is just paternalism and respect without acceptance is only fear. Nations need to ask themselves some very serious questions and give themselves some honest answers before they open their borders in pursuit of cheap labor, shouldn’t they?

Finally, Juan Williams got fired from NPR because he was doing his part-time gig on Fox and told Bill O’Reilly that people in “Muslim” dress on airplanes “made him nervous”. He used the reasoning that people who were committed enough to their religion to dress in accordance with its tenets might be committed enough to engage in more drastic forms of religious fervor. NPR was correct to fire Mr. Williams, but not because of his blatant bigotry; rather, because he is a dumbass. For the record, the Quran limits its directives on clothing to suggestions that it be “modest” and a little technical advice on what parts of the body need to be covered to achieve modesty. Hillary Clinton routinely meets the requirements of Islamic modesty in her dress, if only accidentally, as do most American women over 50, or who are at church in the South. American male business dress is one-hundred percent consistent with the Islamic dress code, as is, ironically, most Rap inspired male dress. The point here is that when Juan Williams identifies something as “Muslim dress”, he is really referring to a cultural or ethnic manifestation. The dress is Arab or perhaps “South Asian”, but it is not Islamic.

Being a dumbass on Fox News is no crime, since Fox News is specifically directed at dumbasses and they clearly have a right to pander to their target market. NPR, on the other hand, has some responsibility for objectivity and factual correctness, both of which Mr. Williams is apparently lacking. I believe we live in a country now where ignorance and failures of reason are seen as “fair and balanced” and studied and researched presentations of unpleasant fact are nothing more than Liberal propaganda. Pointing out factual error is now censorship and criticism of hate is itself hatefulness; and don’t forget, reality is, perhaps, nothing more than 1-dimensional slices of a 2-dimensional membrane vibrating in 11-dimensional space. Sigh.