290 lines
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290 lines
22 KiB
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; margin-right: 2.54cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3" style="font-size: 12pt"><font color="#993366"><font face="Verdana, sans-serif"><b>E<img src="data:image/png;base64,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" name="TtsOtkCLGtr_10" align="right" hspace="5" width="400" height="38" border="0">mpirical
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equivalence of different models of the general theory of relativity
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(GTR). </b></font></font>This explanation of the old and new
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gravitational phenomena has assumed that nothing exists but two,
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opposite kinds of substances enduring through time. But the capacity
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of spatiomaterialism to explain those phenomena does not necessarily
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mean that it is equivalent to a single model of GTR on the received
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geometrical interpretation (which explains gravitation as a curvature
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in four dimensional spacetime). Thus, it remains to be seen why there
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are infinitely many different, observationally equivalent models of
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GTR for any particular universe, or why “general relativity” (in
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one sense) seems to be true. </font></font></font>
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</p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 2.54cm; margin-right: 1.27cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3" style="font-size: 12pt">Since
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this explanation of gravitation is based on the spatiomaterialist
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explanation of the truth of STR, space is assumed to be a substance,
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and we are liberty to take as our reference frame the inertial frame
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at rest in space outside of gravitational influences where the
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one-way velocity of light is the same both ways in every direction.
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That inertial frame is at rest relative to the inherent motion in
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space, and the inherent motion itself is at rest relative to space
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(in other words, that inertial frame is at rest relative to the
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ether, which, in turn, is at rest relative to space). The times and
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places of events assigned by observers on such an “absolute
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reference frame” would be accurate, because his clocks would not by
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mis-synchronized</font></font></font></p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 3.81cm; margin-right: 2.03cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Consider a
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gravitational field imposed by a gravitating body of some kind. It
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will be accelerating the inherent motion (or ether) toward itself
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according to the inverse square law. Of all the reference frames that
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would be accelerated toward the gravitating body, the one with the
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most accurate times and places of events would be the one that is at
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rest relative to the inherent motion itself (or the ether) as it is
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being accelerated toward the center of gravitation. To be sure, such
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a reference frame could not have clocks synchronized everywhere,
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since any large rigid object would be torn apart by the difference in
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forces acting at different points. But if observers on that reference
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frame could use GTR (or this ontological explanation of the
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gravitational force) together with light signals received from other
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objects to figure out where and when events occur throughout the
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gravitational field. That is, they would determine the “simultaneity
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hypersurface in curved spacetime” from their reference frame, and
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since that would correspond to what is really happening to substances
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at that moment as they endure through time, their reference frame can
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be called the “absolute model” for GTR, by analogy to the
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inertial frame of the absolute observer in STR. </font></font>
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</p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 3.81cm; margin-right: 2.03cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">The reason
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that there are many different empirically equivalent models for any
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such situation is that there are other reference frames which differ
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from the absolute reference frame only by have a velocity relative to
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the inherent motion itself that is being accelerated inward. They are
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empirically equivalent locally, because they suffer Lorentz
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distortions that mask their velocity relative to the inherent motion.
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And observers on each of them could use GTR together with information
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received from events elsewhere to determine their “simultaneity
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hypersurface in curved spacetime.” They would all disagree with one
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another, like different inertial observers outside gravitation, and
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there would be no way for them to tell by experiment which reference
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frame was the absolute reference frame. </font></font>
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</p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 3.81cm; margin-right: 2.03cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">That is,
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each possible model of GTR is adapted to the trajectory of one of the
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many different particles that could be in inertial motion at any
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point, and their different velocities relative to the inherent motion
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would give them, incipiently, at least, different standards of
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simultaneity (that is, each determines a different “simultaneity
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hypersurface in curved spacetime”). Any pair of such reference
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frames may have a high velocity relative to one another as they pass
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one another at that point, but each would observe Lorentz distortions
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occurring in the other reference frame, and thus, the symmetry
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between them would make it impossible to for them to tell which
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reference frame is at rest relative to the inherent motion in space
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that is being accelerated toward the center of gravitation. </font></font>
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</p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 2.54cm; margin-right: 1.27cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3" style="font-size: 12pt">This
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explains why models based on different reference frames are
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empirically equivalent as far as different velocities relative to the
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inherent motion is concerned. But neither can anything known about
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the effects of the gravitational force be used to distinguish one
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reference frame from another. Even of observers on the reference
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frames accepted the spatiomaterialist explanation of the nature of
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gravitation as an acceleration of the inherent motion by the
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gravitating body, that would not single out the absolute reference
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frame from the rest. (Or if the observers think in terms of GTR and
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see gravitation as a “curvature of spacetime” caused by
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gravitating bodies, that does not compromise their empirical
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equivalence.) </font></font></font>
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</p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 3.81cm; margin-right: 2.03cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">The
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absolute model cannot be assumed to be the one based on the local
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inertial frame that would result from accelerating all the way in
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from being at rest outside the gravitational field, for the
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gravitating body may itself have a non-zero velocity relative to the
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inherent motion in unstressed space. </font></font>
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</p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 3.81cm; margin-right: 2.03cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">It might
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seem possible to measure an object’s velocity relative to the
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inherent motion by using the gravitational time dilation of objects
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at rest in the gravitational field to determine their velocity
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relative to the inherent motion. But that will detect only the
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increase in the velocity of the inherent motion as a result of being
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accelerated toward the center of gravity to that point from outside
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the gravitational field, and that will not determine whether the
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gravitational field itself is in motion relative to the inherent
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motion outside gravitation. </font></font>
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</p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 3.81cm; margin-right: 2.03cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Or it would
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be possible, in principle, to use the difference between light
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signals and gravitational signals to detect absolute rest, if
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gravitational forces propagated at a different velocity from light.
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But since the force that accelerates the inherent motion in space
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propagates through the inherent motion at the same velocity as light,
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its effects are explained equivalently by each model in the same way
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as light. </font></font>
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</p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 2.54cm; margin-right: 1.27cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3" style="font-size: 12pt">The
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equivalence of inertial frames that Einstein meant by “general
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relativity” can be explained, therefore, by special relativity.
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That is, the empirical equivalence of different models of GTR can be
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explained as the empirical equivalence of local inertial reference
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frames that have different constant velocities relative to the
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accelerating inherent motion. There is no way to determine which of
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their standards of simultaneity is correct, for there is no way to
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detect rest relative to the inherent motion. And none of the
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interactions between space and matter that constitute the force of
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gravity betrays which reference frame is the absolute model. </font></font></font>
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</p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 3.81cm; margin-right: 2.03cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Though
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gravitation just happens to work in such a way that absolute rest
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relative to the inherent motion cannot be detected, the fact that it
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works that way could explain why Einstein was able to deduce his law
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describing the unexpected effects of gravitation from the assumption
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that all different local inertial frames are equivalent, or “general”
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relativity. </font></font>
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</p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 2.54cm; margin-right: 1.27cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3" style="font-size: 12pt">The
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spatiomaterialist explanation of gravitation has been presented as an
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ontological explanation of the truth of Einstein’s general theory
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of relativity. Since what is crucial to such an ontological
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explanation is identifying the aspects of the substances constituting
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the world to which the theory corresponds, I have presented only a
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qualitative argument. I have shown how GTR could be true, even if
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nothing existed but substances enduring through time, and every
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possible photon has a determinate location and velocity in absolute
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space at each moment as it is present (because the inherent motion
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itself is accelerated and, thus, moving through space). Though I have
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said enough about the quantitative factors to make clear how it would
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predict the same quantitatively precise measurements, I have not
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shown mathematically that it is equivalent.</font></font></font></p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 2.54cm; margin-right: 1.27cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3" style="font-size: 12pt">That
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is an exercise I leave up to mathematically inclined readers. It
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affords an opportunity to refute ontological philosophy, for if it
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can be shown that there is no way that the acceleration of the
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inherent motion in space can yield the quantitatively correct
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predictions for all the relevant phenomena, we will have defaulted on
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the mortgage we took out to use spatiomaterialism as the foundation
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for the necessary truths of ontological philosophy, and the project
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will have failed. I see not reason to belief that that can be done.
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But like any basically empirical argument, ontological philosophy is
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vulnerable to empirical falsification, and thus, it must stand up to
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such challenges. </font></font></font>
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</p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 1.27cm; margin-right: 2.54cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3" style="font-size: 12pt">We
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can also see, at this point, why philosophers of science have not
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recognized the superiority of substantivalism about space to
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substantivalism about their spacetime. Instead of inferring to the
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best ontological explanation of everything in nature, they have let
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their ontology be determined by realism about the highly mathematical
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theories that physics has accepted as the best efficient-cause
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explanation of what happens in nature. Philosophers of spacetime
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simply assume that every theory about space and time, including
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Newton’s (and, thus, spatiomaterialism), can be represented as just
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another variety of spacetime theory using differential geometry.<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" name="sdendnote1anc" href="#sdendnote1sym"><sup>i</sup></a></sup>
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</font></font></font>
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</p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 2.54cm; margin-right: 1.27cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3" style="font-size: 12pt">What
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spatiomaterialism offers, however, is a different kind of model of
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GTR. It explains ontologically why Einstein’s field equations are
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true by showing how gravitational phenomena can be constituted by
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space and matter as substances that exist only at the present moment.
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To treat spatiomaterialism as the belief in a “simultaneity
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hypersurface in a four dimensional spacetime manifold” is to
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abstract from such basic ontological issues as the nature of
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existence and time and to judge these theories only as
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efficient-cause explanations, that is, by their predictions of
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precise measurements.<sup><a class="sdendnoteanc" name="sdendnote2anc" href="#sdendnote2sym"><sup>ii</sup></a></sup>
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</font></font></font>
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</p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 2.54cm; margin-right: 1.27cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3" style="font-size: 12pt">And
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when we judge all these theories by their capacity, as ontological
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theories, to account for <i>everything </i>observable about the
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world, including real change, the empirical superiority of an
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ontology of enduring substances is obvious, as we have seen, because
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of its explanation of the nature of time and existence.</font></font></font></p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 3.81cm; margin-right: 2.03cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Spacetime,
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whether curved or flat, cannot explain how the present is different
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from the past and the future, because spacetime cannot be a substance
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enduring through time as long as time is part of its structure. Thus,
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neither can it explain real change, because nothing ever comes into
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existence as time passes nor goes out of existence. (And as we have
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seen, attempts to avoid falsification by our experience of real
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change by adding subjective substances to the ontology makes it more
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complex encounters problems relating eternal and enduring substances
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as a single world, and is in any case <i>ad hoc</i>.) </font></font>
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</p>
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<p lang="en-US" class="western" align="left" style="margin-left: 3.81cm; margin-right: 2.03cm; margin-top: 0.49cm; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; line-height: 100%; widows: 0; orphans: 0">
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<font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Spatiomaterialism
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differs ontologically from Einstein’s GTR in just the way required
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to explain real change. Though it explains gravitation in much the
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way Einstein proposed — as an effect of the container of material
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objects on the path they follow — it replaces curved spacetime with
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an acceleration of the inherent motion itself. Since that is nothing
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but an aspect of space and matter as substances enduring through
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time, given how they are related, it explain why the present is
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different from the past and the future and “real change” is
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ontologically possible. </font></font>
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</p>
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<div id="sdendnote1">
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<p lang="en-US" class="sdendnote-western" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm">
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<a class="sdendnotesym" name="sdendnote1sym" href="#sdendnote1anc">i</a><span lang="en-US">
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See, for example, </span><a href="/F:/Philosophy/Existentialism/The%20Wholeness%20Of%20the%20World/www.twow.net/ObjText/#Friedman"><font color="#0000ff"><span lang="en-US"><u>Friedman</u></span></font></a><span lang="en-US">
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(1983) and John </span><a href="/F:/Philosophy/Existentialism/The%20Wholeness%20Of%20the%20World/www.twow.net/ObjText/#Friedman"><font color="#0000ff"><span lang="en-US"><u>Earman</u></span></font></a><span lang="en-US">
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(1989).</span></p>
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</div>
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<div id="sdendnote2">
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<p lang="en-US" class="sdendnote-western" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm">
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<a class="sdendnotesym" name="sdendnote2sym" href="#sdendnote2anc">ii</a><span lang="en-US">
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</span><a href="/F:/Philosophy/Existentialism/The%20Wholeness%20Of%20the%20World/www.twow.net/ObjText/#Friedman"><font color="#0000ff"><span lang="en-US"><u>Friedman</u></span></font></a><span lang="en-US">
|
||
(1983) argues that the four-dimensional continuously differentiable
|
||
manifold, </span><span lang="en-US"><i>M</i></span><span lang="en-US">,
|
||
itself is all that should be taken as “absolute” in the sense of
|
||
being a “geometrical structure that is fixed independently of the
|
||
events occurring within space-time” (65). That is the only
|
||
structure that spacetime has to have in order for the equations of
|
||
GTR to predict the gravitational trajectories of bits of matter
|
||
precisely (and provide the curved spacetime in which other laws of
|
||
physics hold). Focusing on the mathematics of GTR and the scientific
|
||
inference to the best efficient cause explanation, he does not
|
||
consider what structure spacetime must have to be adequate
|
||
ontologically and explain “real change”. That requires a further
|
||
structure about spacetime to be absolute, an “ontological
|
||
structure”, namely, the one in which spacetime consists of a
|
||
three-dimensional substance (containing bits of matter) and exists
|
||
only at the present moment.</span></p>
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