Time and Quantum Mechanics Discussion

Email from Caitlin: (The >'s are comments I put in)

Hi guys!!
Sorry I missed the workshop tonight. My volunteering ran a bit late and when
I came home for my 20 minute power nap it turned into more like a serious
crash out on my couch. So, I apologize. But, i do still have a contribution
for the week. I was talking with my friend Jeremy yesturday about our
project, and he started handing me these physics books and talking to me
about Quantum Mechanics. The jist of the theory was about time and space.
How positive particles move forward in time and space, while negative
particles move against time and space. What results is a collision of these
postive and negative particles. What happends when they collide? Perhaps the
collisions create new particles that begin to move both with and against the
progression of time and space.
> This is interesting. Do you maybe mean anti-matter when you say negative? On a sort of related note, on a very small scale space is "foamy", which means there are always particles frothing about at a small level. For some reason, pairs of anti- and normal matter particles are created and seconds later they annihilate themselves. This is actually why black holes emit radiation, because they suck in one of the particles. Anyway, it is interesting that these tiny collisions always occur, and do so simply because they CAN.
This got us talking about gravity...because this is a constant source of
power that weighs down on us. gravity's movement is one dimensional, it
flows one way - it pushes against us. I was wondering what would be the
counter act of that - the opposite energy flow of gravity. We grow. Our
bodies grow, plants grow, trees grow. We move against the pressure of
gravity to claim more space for ourselves. Likewise our lives grow as they
move through time. Gravity pushes against us as we grow. And as we grow we
push against gravity. This concept of a constant duality of energies is
interesting because if it is in everything, then there is constant movement
both forward and backwards through time and space at all times.
>There is actually a book by Eric Idle called "The Road to Mars" where a robot aspiring to win the first non-human Nobel Prize does research into comedy, and proves that universal comedy is the uplifting force against gravity. I love that book.

Does this make sense??
I'm no scientist, I'm hoping some of you guys maybe know a bit about quantum
mechanics. so anyways, I've just tried to crack down an hour and a half
of conversation which blew my mind into two mini paragraphs.
We also talked a bit about traveling at the speed of light, something maybe
I'll bring in to workshop.


One last though - sorry this e-mail is so long, I need to get out my weekly
dose of brainstorming.

Apparently, time moves slower on the moon. they've had a clock out there for
like 10 years or something and eventually it began to tick
slower...........maybe that's because the battery was running out.
ha ha
just joking. but apparently, there was some sort of a test done.
i don't know.
i'd believe time would work on a different level - either slower or faster
or whatever - on the moon, or on any planet for that matter. multiple
planets, multiple universes, multiple galaxies and multiple forms of time.
> Time does work slower on the moon for two reasons: the gravity is less there, and the moon is moving faster relative to the earth. It's all from the theory of relativity. So if I stay here and you go on a rocket flight around the solar system, when you get back your watch will be slower. This is called the twin effect. To majorly exxagerate this, my twin could leave in a high-speed rocket and come back only a year older, while I am eighty or something. This is from different rates of flow of time.

that's all for me, for now. thought some scientific thought might be
refreshing, I don't know much about quantum mechanics...actually that right
there is all i know... and i don't know how well it would/could work with
our play in the end, but i figure everything is relevant at this point.
Feel free to write back with comments or whatever, or post something up on
the website.
> quantum mechanics is odd - its all about statistics. It's hard to explain not in person, but here goes an explanation of a quantum effect, one that would be useful in quantum computing:
> Say I forgot to do my homework in the morning, and there are two problems left. I can do only one of these in my head in about 10 minutes, which is how long it takes to walk to say the JDUC from my house. Say I decide that if I walk down University Ave. I will do problem 1, and if I walk down Division I will do problem 2. If I set out on my trip, and noone sees me, or I leave no evidence as to which route I actually took, I will arrive at my destination with the solutions to both problems in my head. Of course, this is impossible with a full size human as I will bump into stuff, step on leaves, etc. but if I was a tiny particle, so tiny that I leave no evidence of my passing, then it works out. The idea behind quantum computing is that you can do this with more than 2 paths, to factor large numbers etcetera etcetera. This doesn't have so much do with time, except that work can be done concurrently if it is not sure that it is being done. Basically, if it is possible and not FALSE, then it must be TRUE.
>Blah. So that's science.

Ned says:

This is all very exciting and right on (wait for it) time. As I think I mentioned (several times) my purpose is to provide you with tools to gather and sort your ideas, insights, experiences and imaginings and turn them into effective theatre, It is NOT my intent, nor would it make any sense, for me to control content. PUSH the agenda on all fronts. Let's just keep an eye on the core mandate: Time, Education and Social Progress.

It is also important to remember that abstract concepts and scientific ideas can be integral to a piece of theatre but that ultimately theatre is a human and a social activity. Our challenge is to access, engage and use all this wonderful stuff in ways that people can see, identify with and care about.

More please
Ned

DUSTIN:
This is the start of a potentially interesting discussion that we can continue throughout the week. Instead of email though, lets try doing it on the blog. Click on "Comment" below here to add your 2 cents.

Dustin