..Not in the least bit Pynchonic -- space

[kelber at mindspring.com]

But how real is the real?  Are atoms real?  We can infer their structure, but not view it directly.  The model that many of us here were raised on, the solar system analog, is just plain wrong.  Still, it was an introduction, a useful crutch, to get us (as school kids) thinking about atoms.  The quantum model may be closer to reality, but it "feels" much more abstract. Imagining a two-dimensional world is beyond our abilities, but only if we think about it too much.  If we accept it, at face value, as a Flatlands-style flat world, then it's a useful crutch for thinking about the concept of dimensions.

Laura


-----Original Message-----
>From: Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net>
>Sent: Feb 7, 2012 10:59 AM
>To: P-list List <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Subject: Re: ..Not in the least bit Pynchonic -- space
ace, the same you? 
>
>What I am saying here is just that the real trumps the mathematical model, That the coordinate system of thought , for example, has qualities that don't accord with actual space-time qualities as they can be experienced and experimentally tested.