Why is the Universe Lumpy?

[ashley cooper]

mmmm.... thank you harrison and mike.

this feeling of coming home is exactly what struck me and has
continued to unfurl within me ever since i first learned of open space
and recognized, "this is how i live (and like to live) my life."

in love and gratitude,
ashley

On Sat, 5 Mar 2005 08:17:08 -0500, Harrison Owen <hhowen at comcast.net> wrote:
> Why is the universe lumpy? Because it has quantum jitters! Strange item for
> OSLIST, but this is a pretty strange LIST! And what about lumpiness? Well,
> isn't it wonderful that a blinding flash of homogenous, superheated plasma
> spreading out in the moment of the Big Bang to create space and time should
> clump and lump? And big clumps and lumps like galaxies and stars, super
> novas and tiny galactic splinters like planet earth. Not to mention even
> smaller clumps and lumps like you and me. And how did all that happen?
>
> According to Brian Greene, physicist and author of "The Fabric of the
> Cosmos", it all began with Quantum Jitters. The silent, majestic clockwork
> universe of Newton holds a deep secret. The panoply of the stars which
> appears eternal and un-changing as we view the night skies is jumpy at the
> core. Well beneath the effective threshold of our feeble eyes, the fantastic
> world of quarks and electrons, neutrinos and photons vibrates in fits and
> starts. Some have called this a dance, but it is a very odd dance, for no
> step is like any other, and every step is indeterminate and unpredictable.
> In a word, it jitters.
>
> Who cares? Well we should because the random jitter of some jumpy quark
> provided the small chaotic disturbance that initiated the ongoing process of
> self-organization. The Cosmic Butterfly flaps its wings to transform the
> primal sameness of hot plasma into the variegated splendor of our universe,
> to say nothing of the infinite, special diversity of each and every one of
> us. At least that is the story as Brian tells it.
>
> Needless to say, my competence to judge the veracity of the tale is
> non-existent. But Brian's colleagues in the exotic world of physics in all
> of its various flavors - astro, atomic, quantum and whatever -- appear to be
> telling a similar tale. And from my point of view the story is too good not
> to be true - more or less. But why tell it here on OSLIST?
>
> You could blame my weird, esoteric, possibly perverted, and definitely
> curmudgeonly nature - and I wouldn't argue. But frankly, I hold Mike
> Copeland responsible. Several days ago, Mike wrote:
>
> "You know we are catalysts for a huge cultural shift that is happening in
> our world. I firmly believe I need to be living in open space myself if I am
> to facilitate in this way. It is very much a case of Open Space starts at
> home."
>
> There is little doubt in my mind that we are witness to a "huge cultural
> shift." How that will all turn out, and whether we are actually catalysts, I
> don't have a clue. But perhaps we can help. The essence of that "help" is
> pointed to; I think, in Mike's final phrase - "Open Space starts at home."
> But as I thought about this phrase, it occurred to me some addition to his
> words might be in order. No question, "Open Space starts at home" but the
> real news is that Open Space is all about coming home! As we stand in the
> circle inviting the random, indeterminate passions of those who cared to
> come, we acknowledge and celebrate the advent of the human version of the
> cosmic jitters, the power of chaos loosed by the flaps of butterfly wings.
> And once again the eternal force of self-organization does its thing. We add
> nothing, we have created nothing new. It is only that we have come home to
> what we always were - despite out best efforts to be something different.
> It's nice to be home. Thank you, Mike.
>
>  Harrison
>
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Drive
> Potomac, Maryland   20845
> Phone 301-365-2093
>
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/>
>
> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
> Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
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