Page 222 - Darwin's Dilemma: The Soul

Darwin’s Dilemma: The Soul

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S Space, Like Time, Is Also a Perception
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In proposing his theory, Einstein regarded the speed of light
as a universal constant. No matter how fast you may go, the speed
of light always remains constant. Even if you travel at a speed ap-
proaching 99% of that of light, light will still travel at 186,282 miles
(299,791 kilometers) per second. It is impossible to match that
speed. According to Einstein’s calculations, time decelerates as the
speed of the observer increases, and space compresses according to
the direction of travel. These concepts, which change according to
the speed of light, prove that they are not absolute because they
vary depending on the individual.
Peter Russell describes:
. . . however fast you are moving you will always measure the speed
of light to be 186.282 miles per second—just as Michelson and
Morley had found. Even if you were to travel at 186,281 miles per
second, light would not pass by a mere 1 mile per second faster; it
would still zoom by at 186,282 miles per second. You would not have
caught up with light by even the tiniest amount.
This goes totally against common sense. But in this instance it is
common sense that is wrong. Our mental models of reality have
been derived from a lifetime’s experience of a world where velocities
are far below the speed of light. At speeds close to that of light, real-
ity is very different. 140
Einstein showed that what we regard as space and time are ac-
tually part of a space-time whole. Therefore, time and space are di-
rectly created as perceptions and become part of a world that is ex-
perienced relatively. The perceptions of time and space are neces-
sary to form an image of the world in the mind. Yet when we
claim that these represent the true reality, we are mistaken, be-
cause we can never have direct experience of the true concept of
space outside.
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