WHERE AM I?

In the last week or so Beyond the Blog reached its 700th post and raced past a quarter million hits. In just over a year, I’d say that was pretty good. Yet, I find myself asking: where am I? What is this blog about?
The answer is, it’s about me and what I want to write. Only problem is, I want to write about everything. Well, finally – I think! – it has all seemed to evolve into four super posts a week, each with between 3 to 6 poems, stories or essays.

I can’t ever see myself not writing those posts.

But in the last few months of experimentation, I think I’ve lost sight of blogging proper, even neglecting many of the other fields I was into. Well, I’m now reinstating a slightly different Diary of a Writer post, which should come out most days – I hope.
In it, you’ll find out more about me as a person, and I’m also going to incorporate my current affairs pieces here. So, what’s been happening in the world over this last weekend?

Well, the disaster in Burma is getting worse.

There are fears of over a million about to die. Yet, just over the border, the aid to stop it is in place. Now, I’m not mad about such international moves as the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague.
But it seems to me that, if they’re going to have prosecutions for Genocide, why not devise an equivalent for manslaughter? I can think of many Burmese generals who fit the bill.

On a lighter note, it was Mother’s Day in America this weekend.

In the UK, ours was earlier in the year. It’s a good day, and I often reflect on it. Of course, with me it is mainly taken up with my wife, Yvonne, and our 7 kids, mostly grown up now.
But I also spend a little time thinking about my own Mother, who died of cancer when I was twelve. Old enough to remember her, but maybe not old enough to know her, I’m certain that I owe her. She gave me so much. But let’s not neglect fathers.

Doctor Who became one this week.

Now, don’t you Tennantites get all upset. It didn’t involve sex. He’s still pure and waiting for you! And I won’t tell you what happened in case you haven’t seen it yet.
But his daughter was the delightful Georgia Moffett, the actual daughter of a previous Doctor Who, Peter Davidson. The character is excellent, and it will no doubt lead to yet another brilliant angle to take this marvelous show.

© Anthony North, May 2008

HOW TO DO DOCTOR WHO - HERO

As the new series of Doctor Who aired its first episode last night, it might be instructive to look at why it is so successful. And the simple fact is, whether consciously or unconsciously, the writers, including Russell T Davies, have rebirthed one of the earliest known psychic forms.
This all revolves around the character of Doctor Who himself. For instance, several things are peculiar about him. The first is his apparent amorality. Whilst he is always saving the world, his morals seem to be distant in terms of normal relationships.

This is particularly noticeable in his love life.

Or should I say, lack of it. Even when he got ‘close’ to Rose Tyler in a previous series, the only emotion was expressed between parallel universes, where any form of physical contact was impossible.
In this sense, the character is almost a ‘fetish’. And when we combine his amorality and distance with the actual things he does, his entire being fits into a simple storytelling device.

Doctor Who is, quite literally, a god.

Appearing human, but clearly not, he flits in and out of reality, and exists in time and space, armed with ‘magical’ weapons such as his sonic screwdriver, and traveling in his ‘magical’ chariot, or TARDIS.
However, we can even identify him more closely than this. For in myths throughout the ancient world, there is a specific god-character that is at the heart of the supernatural story.

This is the Hero.

From Hercules to Gilgamesh, from Osiris to King Arthur, from Quetzalcoatl to Beowulf, the Hero appears, completes a miraculous task, often involving vanquishing a monster, and saves, or changes, society for the better. The Dalek, it seems, is Grendel in tin foil.
Sometimes the Hero is also the Stranger, and in this form he has multiple adventures, forever remaining aloof from the society itself, thus always being the amoral, fetish-like outsider.

This symbolic form is even in the East.

Hindu Avatars such as Chrishna and Rama share similar characteristics. And this story-form is vital for understanding much of human psychology itself.
Through the work of mythologists such as Joseph Campbell, we know its absolute universality, and with Carl Jung devising his idea of a ‘collective unconscious’ populated by ‘archetypes’, the secret of the form is disclosed.

It is, in effect, a story of human aspiration.

Perhaps, even, the first story, with adaptations even stretching into the spiritual, particularly with the story of Christ, the stranger who came from God, and changed society through his heroic sacrifice.
Indeed, the story is so fundamental to our psyche that when placed in a fictional character-form, it seems to transcend its images or words, and connects deep within the inner mind, thus confirming it popularity.
But more than this, the story is timeless, as the Doctor is himself. And in this sense, it is psychic influence upon culture. And when we think of the heroes and monsters from psychical, Gothic, and other story forms, and the spin-off paranormal experiences that are then witnessed, the connection between culture and experience is confirmed.

© Anthony North, April 2008

DOCTOR WHO AND TIME TRAVEL

Now that the latest series of Doctor Who has finished it is maybe time to discuss the central theme of the series – time travel. Does science show any indication that it may be possible?
Theories do exist – and significantly more advanced than the Doctor’s understanding of ‘Timey Whimey.’ But what is time? The physicist, Wheeler, put it well when he said: ‘… time is what keeps everything from happening at once.’

WHAT IS TIME?

Time, though, is hard to grasp. For instance, we can identify periods of time in the revolution of the Earth (a day), or the time it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun (a year). But other than this, time is without known units.
The units we know of – seconds, minutes, hours, etc – are a product of mathematics, slicing the known, astronomical time periods into bits so we can manage our lives. In this sense, time is something we impose on ourselves.
A more grounded explanation of time is to say it is a process we must experience because things happen in time - in particular, a process that reduces things to chaos – from order to disorder. This is decay, erosion – basically, entropy.

ARE WE STUCK IN TIME?

Time seems to have a fundamental effect upon us. Indeed, we live our own ‘time-line’, which merges with other’s to produce the onward progression of ‘us’ IN time. It has to be like this or our experiences would be nonsensical.
This is due to the Law of Causality. Basically, this says that a cause must come before an effect. For instance, a bullet must be fired (a cause) before it can hit someone (an effect). To be any different would be ridiculous.
This is reflected in the Newtonian view of space and time as mechanistic, unchanging, absolute. Here, time is the inevitability of an easily understood ‘machine-like’ universe. Unfortunately, though, the universe isn’t like that.

RELATIVELY SPEAKING

Einstein destroyed the simplicity of the Newtonian universe with relativity theory. Time was combined with the three known physical dimensions to become a concept known as ‘spacetime’. Things happen physically, AND in time.
Matter and energy can stretch and distort the physical dimensions, so can also have an effect on time. Indeed, time can slow down dependent upon the speed of the observer. This takes away a direct point of reference for a definite time.
In a relativistic universe, time can be different to the situations of different observers. But sadly, one thing remains constant. There is still an arrow of time that points forwards. It never seems to point backwards – in the universe, at least.

WHAT IS NOW?

We think of time in terms of a past, present and future. The past has happened, the present is ‘now’, and the future is yet to happen. Yet whilst it is true to say the future hasn’t happened, the term ‘now’ is far more complicated.
We sense things because forces bombard our sensory receptors. For instance, we ‘see’ because light bounces off objects and thus hits our eyes. But forces take ‘time’ to cross from one place to another.
Due to this, our understanding of a sensory ‘now’ is really a myriad of impressions from different points in the past. Think of a thunderstorm where we see the flash before we hear the bang. This is because light travels faster than sound.

POSSIBILITIES OF TIME TRAVEL

In this sense, our ‘now’ can be a form of time machine. For instance, when we look into space we see the distant past. When we are told we are looking at an object 50 light years away, it is also how it was 50 light years in the past, for it takes 50 light years for the rebounded light to reach us.
The universe holds possibilities of time travel in other ways. For instance, as matter enters a Black Hole, space is said to collapse. As time is as one with space, then theoretically so could time. Hence, if we could access a Black Hole and come out the other end, time travel could have been achieved.
Theoretical particles known as ‘tachyons’ have also been envisaged. Relativity theory says we cannot go faster than light as we would escape the confines of the universe – possibly even go back in time. Tachyons are ‘faster than light’ particles, so, if they exist, they could hold the key to time travel.

SUBATOMIC TIME

Whilst the universe we experience requires an arrow of time, the subatomic world has been observed to be different. There appears to be no observable sense of time in their interaction. So if they are ‘timeless’, could the key lie here?
To many physicists, ‘particles’ are old hat, replaced by a concept known as ‘string theory.’ Here, what we think of as particles are just the ‘ends’ of far more complicated structures.
If ‘strings’ exist as the fabric of the universe, further dimensions are required to make the math fit. The beauty of this is that it holds the possibility of other dimensions of time. So maybe we experience the arrow of time in our known dimension of time alone. Accessing other time dimensions could be the key to time travel.

FUTURE TRAVEL

Most of the theories so far hold a limitation. They deal with time travel in terms of going back in time. Going forward in time is a different proposition – especially if it hasn’t happened.
If, somewhere, it has happened then we face the problem of ‘free will’. If a future is mapped out, how can we have choice to do as we want? Surely a future implies that the decision is already made?
We can counter this problem by viewing the subatomic world – or other dimensions of time - as an eternal now. In such a concept, our choices will continually re-write the script of the future. Perhaps this is what a ‘time line’ really implies. It would provide a future based on our choices at the point when time travel began.

INFORMATION UNIVERSE

The problem with all this is, of course, we are too large to ‘travel’ in a subatomic world. However, there is an argument that the subatomic is, infact, a part of an information universe. We are information within it, so if we could be reduced to information, and reconstructed in the future, we can do it.
Another argument holds that, at an information level, the particle and the universe are one and the same. The particle accesses all the information of the whole. Hence, simply connecting with such a world would display all time before us.
Alternatively, perhaps a future time machine would simply access the timeless information of the universe and portray it in virtual reality. In this concept, we don’t travel in time. Time comes to us.

IN CONCLUSION

At this point in time, time travel appears impossible. But this is maybe a problem of technology alone. Ideas exist that could allow time travel to become a reality. So maybe we will one day become Time Lords with our own TARDIS with which to explore.
For now, it is merely theory. But hopefully, this post will have made you think – if, of course, you have the time.

© Anthony North, July 2007

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DOCTOR WHO AND THE END OF THE UNIVERSE

Utopia (BBC1 – 16 June) took Doctor Who to the end of the universe. It wasn’t quite clear whether this meant the end, meaning edge, or end, meaning finished, but I’ll assume the latter; although it was surprising to find a complete planet at the end, peopled by the remains of humanity. One would expect the ‘end’ to be different to this.
Never mind. Anything can be forgiven with Doctor Who. And there was a nice irony that they were building a rocket to save them. It was going to take then to Utopia; which does, of course, mean ‘nowhere.’ Even with the Doctor, there is oblivion in the end.

BIG BANG ONWARDS

The idea of the end of the universe is a natural continuation of it having a beginning in the Big Bang. Here, the universe was created in a moment of time by a sudden expansion of a ‘singularity.’
Most people consider the singularity to be a huge ball of matter. Infact, it is nothing more than a mathematical point of infinity. That’s the thing with Big Bang – it is all to do with math.
At the point of rapid expansion, basic particles were released into what became the universe. Over time, gravity condensed matter into stars, which exploded in supernova, having cooked heavier particles, which went on to form more stars and planets.

AT THE END OF THE ROAD

An inevitability of the expansion of the universe is the possibility that it will eventually slow down and stop, thus providing an end. As to the nature of this end, entropy is vital to what could happen.
Entropy is the natural predilection towards disorder of a closed system. In other words, everything degrades. This is true from food going bad, to machines eventually giving up. And it is the same with matter.
As the end of the universe approaches, all matter will break down into its simplest form, with the universe being nothing but a constant heat throughout. This is known as the Heat Death of the universe, so Doctor Who’s planet could not exist.

ARGUING WITH THE BANG

Of course, we can decide the Big Bang is not true. Other than math, the only evidence of its validity is the observable fact that galaxies move away from each other, and a predicted level spread of radiation from the supposed ‘bang’ has been detected.
Indeed, the math often doesn’t fit. For instance, only 10% of the mass of the universe required for the math has been found. To allow the math to survive, dark matter and energy has been postulated, but so far none of it has been found.
Philosophically, we also have the problem that we tend to be linear in outlook – in other words, ever since Genesis, we have become accustomed to there being a beginning and end to everything. Are we therefore conditioned to want a Big Bang and Heat Death?

STEADY STATE

In the east, a more cyclical attitude prevails, with no beginning or end, but a continuance through never ending cycles. A previous model of the universe used to exist in the Steady State, reflecting this cyclical attitude.
Here, the universe has always been, and always will be. The universe simply creates a level spread of matter, continually renewing itself. This arguably also explains galaxies moving apart and a level spread of radiation throughout the universe.
Steady State was dropped through lack of a ‘mechanism’ to constantly provide new matter. But since then we’ve realized the existence of Black Holes, constantly eating matter and putting it – somewhere. Could they recycle matter back into the universe?

ANTHROPICALLY SPEAKING

There is, of course, another way to view the universe. In the Anthropic Principles, man, or consciousness, is given a primary role in the universe. Stated simply, the universe is designed to make life inevitable. Basically, ‘we’ are why the universe ‘is.’
This ties in with a quirk of quantum theory. Until observed, a particle can be in any state possible. It is the observation of the particle that gives it a definite reality. Here, it is the role of the observer – i.e. us – to bring the universe into being.
In such a model, the universe cannot ‘be’ without consciousness, and can only end when consciousness is no more. Of course, this suggests that consciousness had to be in the universe at the beginning. Oh God!

IN CONCLUSION

Doctor Who has caused many problems by going to the end of the universe. We have had to consider Big Bang and Steady State, one making his visit impossible, the other making his visit - well, impossible.
I think he would go for the anthropic/observer paradigm. Here, if he wanted to have a planet at the end of the universe, we think it, therefore it is. Then again, if consciousness has to exist in the universe for it to ‘be’, then God must have the final say:
‘The End? Pah! Here’s another one I made earlier.’

© Anthony North, June 2007

Click Tony On for my current affairs blog.
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Find more Doctor Who posts on the Science Page.

DOCTOR WHO AND OBSERVATION

Blink (ITV1 UK – 9 June) was one of the best episodes of Doctor Who yet. This is incredibly so as the Doctor had only a passing role. The lead went to Carey Mulligan, and it is a sign of her excellence that I never missed the Doctor once.
That, and the writing. A cerebral episode that mixed Greek mythology, Christian iconography, a brilliant time paradox, the haunted house and even a love story, the best part was nonetheless a clever quirk of quantum theory.

IT’S PROBABLY NOT

The episode featured a race of psychopaths in quantum flux. Because of this, they could only ‘be’ when no one was looking at them. As you watched, they were nothing but stone statues – in this case, angels – but blink, just once!
Although not exact, this idea was obviously based on a supposed reality of quantum theory. When we observe something, we are actually observing particles of light which bombard the eye. Such bombardment is essential to observation.
Observing a particle, however, is not so easy. To observe, it must be bombarded with light, but as it is also a particle that is bombarded, the result is a collision. In other words, we cannot ever see the particle in its natural state, only the effect of our observation.

WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET

This fact encloses the quantum world in uncertainty. The math of it all suggests that until observation, the subatomic world is probabilistic – i.e. the particle can be in any state possible.
An exact state is only disclosed when we observe, when probability dissolves to certainty. But this leaves the important question: what has caused this certain reality? The answer appears to be the result of our observation.
In effect, reality can only come out of probability when it is observed by a consciousness capable of appreciating it. So, like the observations of the ‘angels’ in Doctor Who, it is us who play a vital part in creating the world we experience.

WHAT WENT BEFORE?

Of course, there is one awkward spin-off of this appreciation of the observable universe – and a spin-off that leaves science feeling quite uncomfortable. And it is all to do with the ‘history’ of the universe.
If a consciousness has to exist to appreciate the universe, what appreciated the universe before conscious man? Indeed, consciousness had to be there at the beginning of the universe for the Big Bang to occur.
Religionists would have a simple answer. A quirk of the observation required is that it gives God a role in the creation of the universe. Scientists watch this problem closely, intensely – they dare not blink!

© Anthony North, June 2007

Click Tony On for my current affairs blog.
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DOCTOR WHO AND LONGEVITY

In ‘The Lazarus Experiment’ (BBC1 5 May) Doctor Who encountered eccentric Professor Lazarus. Building a device to manipulate DNA, he is involved in an anti-ageing experiment, which makes the old man much younger.
Predictably, it all goes very wrong, with latent DNA turning him into a monster, which the good Doctor must fight. The episode is based on our wish to live longer, if not forever – a desire known as longevity.

WANTING TO BE YOUNG IS OLD INDEED

The more rich, powerful and eccentric elements of mankind have long dreamed of longevity. For thousands of years the ‘science’ of Alchemy has been practiced, where people secretly attempt to discover the secret of the Philosophers’ Stone.
This is a substance that must be manufactured, yet its ingredients are everywhere. Be successful and you can turn lead into gold. But it also unlocks the Elixir of Life, which can grant immortality. Professor Lazarus is a new interpretation of the Alchemist himself.
Today, we have various ‘alchemical’ based traditions to bring on youth, long life or immortality. Typical is the butchery involved in cosmetic surgery, making us look younger, and on the more scientific level we have cryonics, the practice of attempting to ‘freeze’ people to be brought back to life when cures for illness is found.

WHY DO WE BOTHER?

Throughout most of history the majority of people didn’t even think about longevity. Life was hard in itself – did they want it to go on forever? Further, if you struggle through life in this way, you have no time for the abstract thought required to want to live longer.
The only historic people who lived the dream of longevity were those with the time to think about it - in other words, the rich, the powerful or the academics. They thought in the abstract, and the first thing they realized was that they were individuals who had risen themselves above the mass of people.
Perhaps this is the secret of the desire for longevity – a realization that you are an individual and hold importance above the rest. And in understanding this, we can see why longevity is so important today. Through a growing affluence, we can all rise above the throng and realize we are individuals – and we don’t want it to end.

IMMORTALITY? FORGET IT

If we managed to achieve immortality or longevity, what kind of people would we be? Sadly, not very happy. As Doctor Who advised in the episode, to live so long would be to see so many people die – such sadness. But this is only the beginning of the problems.
If we lived for too long, would we ever do anything? Death has an unconscious immediacy. It restricts the time we are alive, thus focusing the mind to ‘do’ things. Those who knew they would be ‘long lived’ could well be lazy people indeed.
Another problem is that we would think ourselves too precious. Already, as individuality takes hold throughout western society, we are becoming averse to risk. And the longer we knew we would live, the less risk we would take. And without risk, we are no longer human.

THAT MONSTROUS SPECIES OF MAN

Other problems would arise. We need death to make room for new life. Longevity would lead to serious over-crowding. Further, what new diseases would we discover as we lived longer? For instance, many diseases that are common today were hardly known in the past. One reason is that people didn’t live long enough to contract them.
Of course, in the episode, it could never have happened, for in playing about with our genes Professor Lazarus triggered sleeping genes from our evolutionary past, unlocking the monster that eventually brought about his destruction.
This is analogous, I think, to our dream of longevity itself. Only an arrogant species such as man could think of such things. Hence, we need no sleeping monster. When you look at what we do to the world, we are monstrous enough as it is.

© Anthony North, May 2007

While you’re here, why not have a look around? Check out the pages - you’ll also find sub-domains on the Blogroll. You’ll find everything from crime to fiction, paranormal to politics, science to cults and conspiracies. Beyond the Blog is the site that has everything.