Relativity is the key word here. Nor was time the only thing that could stretch with relativity. So events in the universe are referred to as locations in spacetime. Matter moves through spacetime along curving pathways.
And those pathways are created by the effect of matter on spacetime. Relativity sounds like a very strange theory.
So why did anyone believe it? Astronomers keep good records about the orbits of planets moving about the sun. Why would the orbit change like that? Some astronomers said that gravity from other planets must be tugging on Mercury and shifting its orbit a bit. So some thought there might be another planet, closer to the sun, that also tugged on Mercury.
Still, this did not satisfy everyone. So Einstein recommended another way that scientists might test his theory. Of course, the sun is too bright to see stars just beyond its edges or anywhere when the sun is shining. And now stars become visible.
In , astronomers trekked to South America and Africa to view a total eclipse of the sun. But not for everything. A clock on a beach should tick just a bit slower than one on a mountaintop, where gravity is weaker.
But the benefits of general relativity go far beyond just helping us stay on the right road. It helps science explain the universe. Early on, for instance, scientists studying general relativity realized that the universe might be getting bigger all the time. Only later would astronomers show that the universe actually is expanding.
The math used to explain general relativity also led experts to foresee that fantastic objects like black holes could exist. Black holes are regions of space where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape, even light. Scientists have built huge structures using lasers and mirrors to try to detect those ripples, known as gravitational waves. He was just interested in trying to figure out gravity.
Finding the right math to describe gravity, he reasoned, would make sure that scientists could find laws of motion that would not depend on how anybody was moving. The laws of motion should be able to describe how matter moves, and how that motion is affected by forces such as gravity or magnetism.
But what happens when it is two people that are moving in different speeds and directions? Would both use the same laws to describe what they see? Then he found a clue. One day he was looking out of his office window and imagined someone falling off the roof of a nearby building. Einstein realized that, while falling, that person would feel weightless. Please do not try jumping off a building to test this, though.
But what about things like truth, knowledge, and morality? Are there absolute normative truths? John and Ken are joined by Paul Boghossian to tackle the question of moral relativism vs.
John starts the show by claiming that morality is not relative at all — there is an absolute moral truth. Ken then asks, what if there was a relativist who acknowledged that there was no absolute moral truth, but just preferred that others agreed with him about morality, and argued for this reason? Ken acknowledges the complexity of the issue, and the two invite Dr.
Paul Boghossian to join the conversation. John asks Paul why he thinks relativism has become so popular, and Paul presents an analysis of it as a reaction against the colonialist idea of cultural superiority. But when faced with moral atrocities, relativists have a problem, for they criticize the act by appealing to absolute morality.
Ken disagrees, arguing that relativists admit certain things are right or wrong for different circumstances, and can still criticize moral codes different from their own - but Paul responds that this characterization of relativism sounds very similar to absolutism.
Paul says absolutists also believe different things are right or wrong for different circumstances. However, there is still an absolute fact of the matter. Ken says the difference is that a relativist acknowledges there is no transcendent moral authority to settle moral disputes.
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Asked 8 years, 7 months ago. Active 7 years ago. Viewed 97k times. Examples, to me, would be: I think it's cold out; he thinks it's actually quite mild. I think Martha is fairly attractive; he thinks she's quite homely. She thinks Obama's budget plan will save millions of dollars in the long run; he doesn't.
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