n0th1n
Level 19
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Joined: Thu May 21, 2009 1:28 pm |
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Group: Oldies |
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Technically, the Earth could be the center of the Universe
Since we don't have confirmation of a universal reference point, and motion is relative, everything could be moving around the Earth in various complex patterns with the Earth remaining otherwise stationary (it wouldn't even need to be the starting point or a real spacial center, as the universe itself could be moving about in some oblong fashion). In fact, there was some time when a lot of mathematics and modeling was poured into showing the movements of bodies in the Universe with the Earth being the central or stationary reference point.
However, it's significantly simpler to treat the Earth as not the stationary central point of the Universe, and allows sidestepping questions like what physical phenomena would result in the Earth being such a fixed position, what prevents it from moving out of it's fixed position given other forces at work, etc. And a lot of other physical phenomena and properties are easier managed and supported by treatment otherwise.
But, then again, there is a lot of Classical physics models that are a lot easier to comprehend and deal with than quantum physics models of the same thing, and that generally result in the same basic outcomes and uses, even though the models are rather different. Similarly, it was once shown that a significant amount of physics calculations could be done while treating everything as occuring in a two dimensional spacial environment rather than a 3 dimensional (and clearly we are talking about the other possible spacial dimensions), and the math become significantly easier to work with but yields basically the same results, in almost all cases except when dealing with gravity. Gravity doesn't play well with a lot of our current physics really.
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