Letter to Stephen Hawking 2012

Here is a letter that I sent to Stephen Hawking in 2012 (before his death on 03/14/2018) regarding the existence of the Universe.  This man was a genius and has done a great deal in his lifetime to advance human knowledge, even though he was severely disabled.  He did not believe in the existence of God.  He claimed to be an Atheist, and he didn't believe in any life or consciousness after death (compared consciousness to a broken down computer and said that after life was a fairy tale for people afraid of the dark), but he did believe  in the human spirit.    

When I had the inspiration and vision about how the Universe could be existing in a different way, I felt compelled to share this information with those who had dedicated their lives to studying such.  And so I have written many Cosmologists and Theoretical Physicists.  A few have had the courtesy to respond, and some have even considered the possibility that it is the truth.   I humbly sent this letter to Stephen with the hopes that he and his cohorts might consider what I had to say.  I got no response or recognition.  I hope he is wrong about the afterlife!     

Most Honorable Professor Stephen Hawking,

You once said in an interview with Science Watch in 1994,

"I don't believe that the ultimate theory will come by steady work along existing lines. We need something new. We can't predict what that will be or when we will find it because if we knew that, we would have found it already! It could come in the next 20 years, but we might never find it."

and in your book "A Brief History of Time" the concluding paragraph,

"However, if we discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable by everyone, not just by a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we should know the mind of God." 

I just want to say that I believe the truth of the Universe's workings has been revealed to me in a dream, and it came as a message from a metaphorical sparrow! Yes, the actual truth of the physical reality in terms that we can understand, not a mathematical theory. Now before you discount what I say as the ramblings of an ignorant fool, I want you to know that I am not sending this letter to seek any recognition for myself. I only want to humbly share this vision and the message that I received with you as a messenger. Maybe this vision is the beginning of what you said about the ultimate theory eighteen years ago. I believe that it is, and I accept it as the truth based on faith without any proof. This message does not answer questions directly. The message says, you must seek answers to your questions with humility, and with this knowledge of the truth, you shall find them. There is something in the message for everyone of all levels of intelligence and knowledge.

I only have Bachelor's degrees in applied mathematics and engineering, and like most scientifically minded folks, I have always had a great interest in what we are and where we came from. I believe in God, or some higher power, and existence of things outside our realm of Universe reality, but I do not claim any organized religion. I also believe in the "spiritual", that is, things that exist but have no evidence of physical reality that we can detect from our senses. These are things like computer software, logic, mathematics, and the laws of behavior of the Universe.

Before I give you the "Message" though, I will briefly state my interpretation of key elements of it, and the resulting implications. This is a geometric model that shows the physical mechanism for the properties of matter, and also the relationship between time and space, how mass equates to energy, the reason for the speed of light limit, cause of entropy, the one way arrow of time, how gravity works and why it is only a "local" phenomenon with no need for "dark matter" or "dark energy" to explain the seemingly inconsistent expansion of the Universe with current theory. It also ties everything to only one unifying creative source for everything that physically exists.

• The Universe consists solely and entirely of an unimaginably large and finite set of identical but individual particles, each one unique in its individuality because it contains a creative source of Universe space within it.
• The Universe volume created by each particle is unique to itself, and no two particles can encroach on another's, nor can they share the same Universe volume. There are no voids of non-Universe space between any of the particles, and all particles must share sides with each other in various polyhedral shapes and configurations. The bounds of the substance of each particle makes up its boundaries. "Clumps" of these particles in different configurations make up all of the other matter with properties of mass.
• The Universe was not created in an instantaneous "Big Bang" event. It is a continuing process of creation in which each individual particle of the Universe is growing from within (albeit different rates based upon the particular configuration of surrounding particles), creating Universe space, and causing all that we see. Without this growth, nothing of the Universe exists. In our expanding Universe, our basic standard of length (meter) is expanding along with it. For length measurements involving Universe expansion, we must use an unchanging "absolute" length standard that is based upon the Universe's initial size before expansion began (in order to exist physically, it must have occupied a volume). Universe space cannot contract or go back where it came from. The condensing of matter into a black hole is only an illusion caused by the slowing of expansion of matter in it, while the rest of the Universe (including us) is continuing to expand.
  
• There is no "vacuum space" within our Universe, it is all made up of the least dense quantity of particles for a given volume of the Universe. Our Universe sits in an infinite void of positive space in which none of the properties of the Universe exist.
• Time is only a property of the Universe. Time is not "universal" or constant throughout the Universe. It is a scalar positive value that represents an average amount of absolute expansion a quantity of particles has undergone. It has units of absolute length and is (I believe) equivalent to the numerical absolute value of the cubed root of absolute volume (as defined in units of absolute length, not our expanding meter reference) of a given quantity of matter. As long as expansion continues, time passes. There is no zero time or beginning of time, because time coincides with the Universe's existence and did not exist before it.
• All forces existing in the Universe come from the expansive growth force within each particle. Each constituent particle occupies its own unique volume of the Universe which cannot be shared with any other particle. And each particle has within it an equal creative source of Universe space that forcibly expands its volume and unique Universe space. The growth force in each particle may be continuous or come in small discrete random steps, but since time is a function of expansion, we cannot tell on the particle level which it is. The only thing restricting the growth rate is the inability of one particle's volume to occupy another's, and that all particles must be in intimate contact with one another sharing common sides of other polyhedral shaped particles without any voids. If a particular particle's polyhedral shape restricts growth on one of the sides, the adjacent particle sharing that side will also have its growth restricted accordingly. In general, polyhedral shapes with fewer sides have a higher growth rate. These polyhedral shapes may be regular or highly irregular in shape.

• Absolute energy in the Universe is directly related to its absolute volume (units of absolute length^3), and is continually growing. This means that the Universe we know will never collapse, and the absolute energy and expansion of the Universe will always be in equilibrium. The energy that we experience (Joules) is related to absolute energy and is the result of a differential expansion in volume between two sets particles of the Universe, and is exhibited whenever the rate of expansion between the sets changes.
• This energy that we see is related to matter (or mass) by its quantity and the amount differential expansion in absolute volume.
• All "waves" of electromagnetic energy, gravity waves, etc. , propagate at the local speed of light (which is the expansion rate of the least dense particles in a given volume of Universe) by virtue of expansion ripples passed one to the other.

And now, here is the "message" that I received which I am passing on to you:

Just this morning 09/12/2010 at 1:30am, a metaphorical sparrow awoke me with a message. She said that she was sent by the One who knows, and that I must get up and write this down accurately, lest I forget or discard this as a silly dream, and that I must spread this as a second messenger to all who will listen. Here is what the sparrow said:

I am sending this message through the simplest of means so that all who seek the truth with humility can see it, and can know the answers to questions that plague their minds. I do this because arrogance has blinded all that possess it, and has been the original cause of all your discord.

What are you?

You are only two things of all possibilities. One portion of you is physical and is bound to the first thing, which is the Universe. The other portion is your intangible spirit, which is a second thing, and is similar to the laws that govern the Universe, or in modern terms, software. Your two parts are separate and cannot affect each other directly, even though they both are embodied in you.

Your Universe is just one finite thing of many identical but individual pieces, and all of its apparent properties; time, matter with its own properties, space, and energy, come from one unifying source on a continuing basis. Its existence is the result of what you think of as the expansion of space. It had no beginning in the time sense, because time is only a property of the Universe.

Your spiritual intangible part is your conscious mind that is aware, can reason and understand what I am saying. Like the Universe, your spirit is continuing to be created and your knowledge and awareness grows. You can use spiritual tools like mathematics, to better understand the behavior of the Universe, but your understanding and awareness of those laws still cannot affect them in any way, nor can be the cause of any existence. Your confusion in this matter comes because the behavior of the Universe is governed by a spiritual type law which comes from outside of it, and is similar to your own spiritual nature.

As for why you exist … because I love.

It is now 3:00am, and I am finished writing. Going back to bed. Will attempt to spread the message in the morning.

Dan Bowlds Feb. 2012

The Universe is Just Bubbles!

If our Universe is not infinite, what exists outside of it? What is the definition of nothing?  Is the nothingness infinite?  Is there such a thing as a meter outside of our Universe?  Does time exist outside of our Universe?

In order to answer these questions, we must have a clear understanding of what time and distance are. Mass, length, and time are the dimensions we use to describe and quantify all that we see happening in our Universe, and if we don't know what they really are, or have made false assumptions about what they are, then in Isaac Newton's words: “A man may imagine things that are false, but he only understand things that are true, for if the things be false, the apprehension of them is not understanding.”

Isaac Newton

How then do we determine what is true and what is false? We start by making preliminary assumptions about something that appears to always be true,  and then by observation we see if it is ever not true.

Up until the twentieth century, we did not question what time or distance measurements were. We did not understand why these things were, but we thought that a meter could be precisely defined by the length of a piece of metal that was held at a constant given temperature, and that time could be defined on this earth by the swing of a pendulum of given length in a stationary environment. We made the assumption that these things were always constant and consistent throughout the Universe. Then Albert came along and made the preposterous claim that the movement of matter through a distance in space with time is not independent, and the velocity affects both the passage of time in that space and even affects the mass properties of the matter being moved. Those claims, when observations were made to confirm them, changed our thinking about what time and distance measurements in space were. We now call it space-time. But we are still in the dark about what these things really are and how they exist. Answers to the  questions I posed at the beginning of this paper are not so clear when we really don't know what space and time are.

So, how do we distinguish those things which are true from those which are false or only partially true? The answer is, we look for things that are in disagreement with what we believe is true. In this sense, nothing is ever proven to be true unless there are never any  observations that can be made to disprove it.  Even at that, we might not be able to say what we believe is unconditionally true though.  We would also have to prove that there are no other possible ways in which what we observe can be happening other than the way we think they are happening for it to be absolutely true.

Mathematical formulation of physical behavior can be useful in describing and predicting the actions that we see, but it is only a model of the behavior. Remember that mathematics is only a mind tool that helps us to understand the behavior of things, and is not the cause of any physical existence or its behavior. Mother Nature acts independently of our will and reason.

In order to advance our knowledge, we have to rely on our imagination and creativity to come up with new ways of how things can exist when we see that there are problems with our current thinking on how things work. Once conceived, we can proceed with the work of trying to find ways to disprove the new ideas. A wise man once said, “The biggest mistakes are made in the beginning.” And certainly, if you made a false assumption in the beginning of an investigation, and you base all of your work around that, then the “proof” of what you claim to be true, based on that assumption, comes tumbling down when that foundation pillar is knocked out. But that doesn't mean that all of the work of characterization and defining the behavior is wasted. It just means that what you have been observing is happening in a different way than you thought. All of that work can be applied to disproving the new idea if it is not the whole truth. In this way we can advance our knowledge and understanding if it is done objectively and without political bias. (There are some scientists, especially in academia, who are strongly political, and they do a great disservice to the advancement of knowledge. The cause of this is arrogance, and its intent is to establish superiority and control over others. This goes way back, even to the time of Plato and Democritus. )

So with this prelude, I am going to present my imaginative vision of physical existence, and answer the questions I posed at the beginning of this paper.

Is the Universe infinite, and if not, what is outside of it? Is nothingness infinite? My belief is that the Universe is finite, mainly because it couldn't expand if it was infinite. Finite means that it has bounds beyond which nothing that we can relate to in our Universe exists. That's not to say that there may be things existing that we cannot detect with our Universe bound abilities though. If the Universe is finite, then the nothingness outside of it cannot be quantified, implying that it could be infinite. The logic of this is, if our Universe has limits then there are no limits on how much there can be of non-Universe. Of course this cannot be proven or disproved because it is outside the bounds of our reality.

Well then, if our Universe is finite, what defines its boundaries and what is the Universe made of? The Universe encompasses all that we experience in our physical reality; time, space, energy, forces, matter … , but it does not encompass the spiritual; logic, reason, consciousness, intellect, and the software of life. I distinguish here the adaptive evolutionary software of life from the physical host that it resides in. The spiritual parts, and life, are not directly bound to the Universe. The spiritual and physical cannot directly affect each other. The physical Universe and its laws is not the cause of life, and life or associated spiritual parts cannot change the physical behavior of the Universe.

What does the physical Universe consist of, and how do all of the things we see, exist? Here is my vision of what the physical Universe is:

• The Universe consists of a fixed quantity of only one type of thing. I will call these things “Space Bubbles”. These bubbles all have identical properties, but are individual and consist solely of their own space bubble material that is invisible to us. The bubbles cannot share their portion of Universe space with any other, and all of Universe space must be occupied by these bubbles and their bubble material.  No voids of non-universe space is allowed in our Universe.  Vacuum space bubbles are the least dense bubbles and have unity mass.  Matter space bubbles occur in clumped groups which have a higher density than the vacuum space which gives them the property of mass, and the density ratio is proportional to the mass of the matter.
• Each bubble has a creative source of its own bubble material within it that is forcefully expanding it against the bubbles surrounding it. This creative expansion action of the bubbles, and their interaction with each other, is the cause of all the properties of the Universe, and ultimately is the cause of all physical existence. In other words, I am saying that the Big Bang never was, and that the Universe is in a constant state of creation due to the creative expansion within all of the space bubbles.

Now if Albert Einstein's statement about the connection between space, time, matter and gravity was deemed preposterous and caused tremors in the academic ranks, my statements will no doubt cause an earthquake of absurdity and a fiery volcano of ridicule in such places! But since all of our observations are based on dimensions of time, distance/space, and mass, and these things are all a function of the space bubble expansion in order to observe it, the burden will be on the skeptics to disprove my idea of existence. I have shown in my book how all of what we observe can be caused by the bubble expansion, but there can be no proof to show that it is correct. We can only find that it is incorrect by observations that are in disagreement with it. In order to disprove it though, time, mass, distance, energy, etc. will all have to be redefined in the new terms of an expanding Universe. We cannot use the existing definition of what they are now because the current assumption of what they are is wrong in my view. It will be up to others to show why the Universe cannot exist in the way I propose, and to confirm that the actions we see cannot be happening because of them.

To those with an open mind and a humble heart, and those who are on a true quest for the truth of our existence, here are some meaningful things for you to consider!  You can take what already has been learned about the behavior of the Universe from those who have preceded you, and with this new insight of how the Universe  could be existing, explore the possibility of coming to a better understanding of what we are.

I have written a little book about this called “Are We Just Bubbles? An Alternate View of Existence” and there is more detail in how this all works if you are interested. They are available on Amazon or Lulu publishers on demand.

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/DanBowlds

Dan Bowlds

The Ultimate Atom

Democritus, a Greek philosopher before Socrates, was the first to suggest the existence of the atom about 2,400 years ago. He thought that everything was composed of "atoms", which were the invisible components of the Universe (Universe then was thought to be Earth centered and smaller than it is now). These atoms were indestructible, consisted of all kinds of different shapes and sizes, and there was an infinite number of them. In between atoms there was supposedly an empty space of nothingness, (a Void if you will). He thought atoms have always been and would always be in motion. Regarding mass, which he would have equated to weight, Democritus said, "The more any indivisible exceeds, the heavier it is", meaning that the more there is to an indivisible atom, the heavier it is.

Democritus was no doubt a genius to envision such a thing in his age of existence. It was said that he was a jolly man, kidding and poking fun, and more interested in finding out about our physical existence than anything else. He was pretty much ignored by his fellow philosophers in Athens, and Plato disliked Democritus' philosophies so much that he wanted all of his books burned.

It is amazing to see how much of what he believed is still relevant now! Even though the first modern interpretation of atoms, the Bohr model, was found to be composed of even smaller parts (electrons, protons, neutrons, etc.) and atoms were “divisible”, Democritus' atoms still persisted as the subatomic components of the elemental atoms. And his ideas of mass in physical objects containing “indivisible exceeds” relates to the quantity of subatomic particles within an atom. He also said there was a 3D empty space in which all of this “stuff” could move around, and this stuff was continually moving around in it.

Now there has been and still is, a big debate about what space is. Some have argued that if space exists, it is something and cannot consist of nothing. If it can be measured, then it has to be something. Others have thought differently. During the 20^th century, great advancements have been made in understanding space. With Einstein’s theory of general relativity, we see that there is a connection between space and time, and that there is really a forth dimension to our 3D space, and we now call it space-time instead of just space. But, even though we know that there is a connection between space and time, and gravity, and the speed of light, and we know that mass and energy are connected with the speed of light, and we can predict the behavior of these things very well with mathematics, we still do not know why and how these things are connected.

Now, I am an old man well into my senior years, and I am a retired engineer with an average intelligence and meager mathematics degree, one who could spend what few years I have left soaking up sun on a southern beach somewhere. I have worked hard all of my life to provide and support my family, and I have managed to save up enough money and assets to modestly get by for a while. I'm not interested at this stage of my life in becoming rich or famous. So with this sentiment, I want to humbly present what I believe to be answers to some of the scientific questions that still remain unanswered.

The key to understanding goes back to what Democritus was thinking. We want to think there is ultimately simplicity and order in what we see in our physical world. We would like to think there is a theory that would encompass all of the physical behavior that we see, and one that could be basically understood by most everyone, not just a handful of mathematicians and scientists. As Stephen Hawking said in his book “A Brief History of Time” “.. if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists.”

Democritus talked about matter and space. He and some present day scientists still think of these as two separate things. But what if space and matter is the same “stuff” in different forms? What if matter is just compacted space, and it is only through this compaction that we can see it? What if the components of space exist as invisible physical objects, and those elemental objects that Democritus would call atoms are all that the Universe consists of ? All of space, all matter, and anything associated with our Universe would consist solely of these invisible objects. There would be nothing else in the Universe, not even an empty void of nothingness anywhere (or nowhere if you like). This is exactly what I propose! Everything in the Universe consists of “space bubbles”. Then you might say, what about energy, and time, and gravity, and inertia, and the speed of light, all of the properties of the Universe? Well, there is an invisible forth dimension to our Universe as well, a dimension that is the source of all the properties and actions of the Universe! It is invisible space expansion. Each space bubble has a creative source within it that creates new Universe space. This is space that has never existed in the Universe before and comes from something outside of our Universe. The expansion of these bubbles and their interaction with each other competing for room to expand, is what causes our physical reality. Time passes because of this expansion, exhibition of energy exists because of it, gravity and inertia exist because of it, electromagnetic forces exist because of it, and the speed of light limitation exists because that is the rate of bubble expansion.

So there you are in a nut shell. One type of thing causes all that we see as our Universe. If the source of the expansion within each bubble “runs out” all existence will cease! There will be no time nor even a history that the Universe ever existed! Every second is brand new and will never occur again. Be thankful for our existence and humbly coexist with all of it!

I have written a little book about this called “Are We Just Bubbles? An Alternate View of Existence” and there is more detail in how this all works if you are interested. They are available on Amazon or Lulu publishers on demand.

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/DanBowlds