What's Going on Over There

Georges Lemaître, a Belgian Catholic priest, theoretical physicist, and mathematician, is credited with advancing our understanding of the universe. His work led to what we now call the Big Bang theory. When asked about being both a scientist and a priest, he said, "There are two roads to the truth, and I'm walking both of them." I walk the spiritual, esoteric path to truth. But occasionally, I like to peer over at the other road and see what's happening there. These last few weeks, I’ve been stretching my neck to take a good look.

My favorite place to peek over is YouTube. Lately, I’ve been watching lectures from The Royal Institution. I only understand a fraction of what is said, but thanks to my training as a student of Sai Maa, I’ve developed a kind of absorption skill. I let the words wash over me. Over time, the knowledge begins to seep in.

One lecture in particular kicked off this most recent exploration: At the Limits of Astrophysics by Katy Clough. While discussing relativity and the curvature of spacetime, she said, "Actually, most of the curvature is in the time direction. It's actually not in the space direction...It's time that's curved and not space." My mind stopped. What?!

Later, she went on to say about two galaxies moving apart, "And the reason that they're moving apart is because the universe is curved in the time direction.  Rather than the universe is expanding, she said, "I would like people to say, 'The universe is curved in the time direction'...The interesting thing which you'll notice immediately is somehow the universe as a whole is curved in the opposite way to how it's curved locally around objects." I wish her whole lecture had been about that, not just background to get to her primary topic. 

Ever since, I’ve been exploring the idea of time as a coordinate system—not something that elapses, but something that is. It feels like stretching to reach something on a high shelf. I can just make out the shape of it, but I don’t fully grasp it. But the stretching feels good, so I keep going.

This curiosity led me down a delightful rabbit hole: Neil deGrasse Tyson podcasts, Brian Cox’s Horizons live show (that screen was magnificent—every science lecture should have one), and now Stephen Hawking’s A Briefer History of Time. I’m grateful for the "briefer" version. The original feels a bit too daunting.

One surprising twist: I’m feeling called to learn math. Truly learn it. I took classes through calculus in school, but I memorized rules rather than understanding it. I stopped when I hit the idea that a negative times a negative is a positive. It felt arbitrary and unsubstantiated.  I learned later that it's a fairly advanced topic, but at the time, it left me feeling that math wasn't for me. 

Peering over to the science road, the thought pops up, 'Maybe I should go learn some math.' But I’m not good at math.  I’m not capable of learning it. And there it is—a limiting belief, exposed and ready to be transformed.  The resistance isn't about the time or effort; it's the belief that I can't do it.  [Sigh]

Peering over at the other road brings multiple gifts. It expands my understanding of creation. And it helps me uncover and clear old blocks that no longer serve me. I guess it's time to actually learn math.  Does anybody know a good math course for beginners?

Written with assistance from ChatGPT.

Image generated using DALL·E via ChatGPT.