The Distance Between Us is Infinite

[efarina96]

Why Physics Says You Can Never Actually Touch Anything

According to physics, you never touch anything. At all. It may seem like you are, but activities going on at the atomic scale prove otherwise.

futurism.com

"To understand why you can never touch anything, you need to understand how electrons function...
Like [all other particles and anti-particles], this funky subatomic particle also exhibits the [infinite-finite]duality, which means that the electron has characteristics of both [infinity and finality]. On the other hand, they have a negative charge. Particles are, by their very nature, attracted to particles with an opposite charge, and they repel other similarly charged particles."

 

[Snorrie]

Actually there is poetry in particle physics in that on the macro level we and other complex lifeforms have prehensile ability and physical feeling which are essential to existence. Perhaps some day, concepts like String Theory will experimentally show/explain the wonders of quantum physics. Until then, the first swallow of a "cold one" on a hot Summer's day, hitting the pit of one's stomach with a "click" is an example of the poetry of touch. Cheers!

 

[efarina96]

Actually there is poetry in particle physics in that on the macro level we and other complex lifeforms have prehensile ability and physical feeling which are essential to existence. Perhaps some day, concepts like String Theory will experimentally show/explain the wonders of quantum physics. Until then, the first swallow of a "cold one" on a hot Summer's day, hitting the pit of one's stomach with a "click" is an example of the poetry of touch. Cheers!

Quantum physics, while infinite in its complexities, can actually be understood quite simply.
"All the mystery of quantum mechanics is contained in the double-slit experiment."
-Richard Feynman
A particle exists as a wave and a particle. Its wave form is its fundamental existence in eternal spacetime.
The observed particle is in a constrained, apparently finite state in accordance with the rules of observation.
E=mc^2
Matter cannot be created or destroyed, because that which is eternal has no beginnings and no ends. The only thing that is limited is our observation. So when we observe a particle with our limited capacity for observation in accordance with General Relativity, our relative past conspires with our relative present to give the appearance of a solid object.
What appears to be finite, is in fact infinite. Finality is an illusion!
Cheers!

 

[Snorrie]

I'll drink to that, to Uncle Albert and to Richard Feynman. However, I just disagree with "finality being an illusion (i.e.: a mental product)". Perhaps I'm stuck on simplistic concepts. Touch produces measurable effects physical as well as psychological. For me, there ain't no magic in the Universe and physics, chemistry and biology are not magicians. Energy and matter interact to produce measurable reality, that's the limits of my working understanding.

 

[efarina96]

I'll drink to that, to Uncle Albert and to Richard Feynman. However, I just disagree with "finality being an illusion (i.e.: a mental product)". Perhaps I'm stuck on simplistic concepts. Touch produces measurable effects physical as well as psychological. For me, there ain't no magic in the Universe and physics, chemistry and biology are not magicians. Energy and matter interact to produce measurable reality, that's the limits of my working understanding.

I agree with that. I'm not talking about magic, but since you brought it up...
Imagine an alien came to Earth and turned your house into gingerbread with a snap of its fingers. While none of us would have an explanation for how this is possible, and some would certainly describe it as "magic" in order for this event to occur there has to be an objective physical process at play that at least God would understand.
That's what I call "science" all of God's eternity, that God knows, sees, comprehends, and experiences in its entirety and that we might strive to understand.

 

[Snorrie]

For my better or worse, I don't attribute the concepts of eternity or the creation of the Universe or the standard model of physics or the periodic table or life after death, etc to the actions of any deity especially one with the same sentient capabilities as ours but augmented to perfection. To do so seems simplistically primitive, tribal perhaps. For me, the concepts of Nature, (the scientific method), and Evolution are the most accurate and descriptive of reality. There is no need for a first cause or a prime mover other than a human psychological need and a dominance concept. I don't intend to offend, denigrate or criticize, please don't take my comments in that vein. It's just that I've seen and experienced too much to be other than very cynical and doubting.