Relativity Do any of you guys understand it ? In physics, the theory of relativity—created by Albert Einstein—means that space and time are flexible, and measurements of speed, time, and distance always depend on the observer's moving point of view. But can you comprehend that ? It’s weird, Albert Einstein did not believe in a traditional afterlife or an individual soul surviving physical death. He was a smart guy from what I can gather. Einstein considered the idea of an individual surviving physical death to be absurb. Relativity is a complex conception just trying to get my mind in sync about it. I have spent many hours trying to undstand it.
Yes.
Relativity makes quite a bit of sense once you understand all of the fundamental concepts--so much sense, that any other explanation seems implausible.
However, like all good scientific theories, once you do grasp what General and Special Relativity describe and model, you have even more questions:
1) What actually is Space?
2) Why is the expansion of the Universe accelerating?
and the big one...
3) What makes Gravity operate, and why does it function as a "force" for free?
The last one is a big deal. Isaac Newton, arguably the most intelligent recorded(documented based on works and accomplishments) human in modern times, had a core Law, the Law of Conservation of Energy, where "Energy cannot be created nor destroyed--only transferred."
This Law posits there is no infinite energy in the entirety of the Universe. In fact, later derived from this, the sum of all energy available in the entirety of the Universe has been present since the Big Bang--theorized later by the Catholic Priest Georges Lemaitre. What was still is.
So why does Gravity... gravity, seemingly for free. You can place an object around a gravity well, aka our Sun, or even Sagittarius A, the supermassive black hole center of our Galaxy the Milky Way, and no matter how many others join, the black hole continues to attract and accelerate objects.
Why?
What is giving Gravity this ceaseless energy, when energy cannot be created nor destroyed?
So you see, questions abound. I have theories and possible answers, but I will not digress into those, for now.
Back to your original premise, OP: Relativity. There are two prevailing theories presented by Einstein:
General Relativity - essentially his reworking of Isaac Newton's concept of gravity into a three dimensional deformation of space-time, of which objects "sink" into (or are attracted).
Special Relativity - deals with the merger of space and time, and the relationship between velocity, gravity and time deformation--and frames of reference.
These are beautiful theories, and make a great deal of sense once you grasp the concept of slope/time. Think of space as a linear tick rate--draw a graph on graph paper. As you progress to the right, each number represents a tick--a linear progression. A gravity well exponentially slopes downward, however, along that line. Consider that slope into gravity a change in the trajectory of that former graph line. Now consider you are a traveler walking along that graph line, and then wander into the slope of gravity. The steeper the slope of gravity, the more compressed time becomes, relative to external observers. You, on that line, experience time normally. However, since the line is becoming steeper and steeper, downwards, with respect to the original X axis, you seem to be progressing more slowly to others, who are observing you from the line above you.
This is just one facet. They both have been proven true, in countless experiments. That's how come GPS satellites and even electronics function, properly.
When I was a young, arrogant lad in High School physics, I thought Relativity was hogwash. Years later, I disagree with my former self. It accurately describes a facet of reality, but begs even more questions.
To your last point: "Albert Einstein did not believe in a traditional afterlife or an individual soul surviving physical death."
While he was Agnostic, his theory opened the doors to multidimensionality--the basis for things such as String Theory, etc. Also, consider, that Einstein died at the cusp of the Computer Revolution. All they had prior to this were mechanical computers and their minds. The concept of "The Matrix" hadn't even been concepted yet. That we could be beings trapped in a simulation would have been considered preposterous. I forgive him for this oversight--and like all humans, he wasn't perfect. None of us are. We're quite limited, actually.
He was more interested in the science part of things--what he could test and prove. Philosophy, on the other hand, isn't so much concerned proof, but trying to explain why, within a logical framework.
In my eyes, and not trying to go off topic, God has created the perfect environment for us to dwell in, and one that he has absolute control over what information we have access to. We cannot possibly hope to prove his framework, when he controls the spigot of input data our senses receive.
