"Not one of those equations will put on wings, take off, or fly. Yet the universe 'flies'."
Isn't Wheeler here being like Goethe's Faust, the esteemed doctor of
science and
theology who is troubled by the shallowness of his hard sought knowledge?
Wheeler knows that his science and mathematics are not enough. He intuits
that
they miss something that is life-giving. None of the equations he knows
does justice
to the fact that "the universe flies". Mathematical physics might be
necessary,
but surely it cannot be sufficient.
Gray, my dear friend, is every theory, And green alone life's golden
tree.
Names are but sound and smoke Befogging heaven's blazes.
Envisage the creative blazes Instead of rummaging in phrases.*
What should Faust do? Should he renounce academia and run with the devil
so that
he might see the world as it really is? Before we spring from our seats,
let us make
a "map" of where we might go. This cosmic map is a mural
that will help you foresee
what this Beyond Photography series is all about. In the top right
portion of the mural
is the mysterious "otherside", the unrepresented, the uncarved
block or what might
be called ultimate reality. You may call it heaven if you like. For
philosophers,
this is the sublime Noumenal Realm, and within it lives moral philosophy.
Dear reader: The most recent updates for this series are packed into
this level.
You'll find plenty to chew on in here! This is the only level that
is more that 2 pages long.
Print this series and read it in a calm manner, knowing that ultimately
you hold the keys ...
This is a work in progress, so please check back for updates
and discard outdated versions.
The mural described below can help you organize and remember this Renaissance
series
as a seamless whole. If you are an artist, click here to ask
how you can earn a commission
by actually painting this
mural. The mural is not a collage; it is a fusion of video
clips
and story boards. The central image is a graceful curve that flows
from the top left corner
to the bottom right corner. Imagine it being a water course that produces
a melodious sound
as it gently carves into its landscape. As aeons of time pass, imagine
the stream carving
deeper and deeper into the earth until it has sunken from sight and
formed an impressive
chasm. We are going to give the hidden river a fanciful name;
we will call it the River Styx.
It has formed a yawning chasm that splits its landscape into two realms.
The lower one to the
left we are going to call the Phenomenal Realm. The upper realm to
the right we are going to
call the Noumenal Realm. The meaning of these realms will become clear
as we populate
them with appropriate images and stories. The intent here is not to
sell any particular belief
system. You will be given new tools and ancient reminders to help you
understand what
stirs within you when you relate to people, music and art.
The phenomenal realm is the world of appearances. We can draw within
it clear and distinct
classical images, such as children playing ball, or Gallileo dropping
stones from the leaning
Tower of Pisa. The phenomenal realm also includes images that are personal
and difficult to
repeat. For our mural we can draw these dreamlike apparitions and personal
ghosts in the
lower portion of the phenomenal realm and give them a foggy cast. As
we move towards the
upper portion of the phenomenal realm the fog clears and we have the
measurable objects of
science. We can draw a temple for science in the phenomenal realm and
show within it a floor
inscribed with the powerful equations alluded to in the previous
level. On the temple grounds,
draw scientists using compasses and straight edges for measuring and
using scales to make
comparisons. By the temple of science, we can show Dr. Samuel Johnson
kicking the
proverbial stone that he used to dispel the idealism of Berkley.
A noble goal of science is to get beyond mere substitutions and circular
reasoning so that
we might apprehend a unity that transcends and derives all appearances.
The goal is to
cross the chasm and arrive in the noumenal realm where things can be
known as they really
are, and not simply as they seem to be. This is not an easy task, and
to represent its many
failed attempts one can show people falling into the chasm. The noumenal
realm involves
things that we can ponder but not simply represent in images. It is
the source of truth, beauty
and grace and of all high and noble intuitions It is the “otherside”
the uncarved block, the
unrepresented, the grounds and means for existence. These are obviously
abstract and
unsatisfactory terms. However, almost everyone has experience making
the crossing from
the phenomenal realm to the noumenal realm. Usually it is a painful
unwanted excursion
caused by the loss of a dear friend or relative. One momentarily looses
one's grip on the
familiar world of appearances and is hurled over into a realm of direct
encounters with
ultimate reality. On the otherside one might experience an unlooked-for
comfort. For artists
and poets, the trick is to make controlled crossings over to the noumenal
realm and back
without paying too high a price. The goal is to return to earth with
precious gifts earned
from one's experiences on the otherside. Poets have returned from such
journeys with
elegies soaked with a misty-eyed compassion and empathy.
For our mural, we can draw a veil of tears raining over part of the
chasm. People suffering
from grief and a profound sense of loss slip through this veil and
add their own tears to the
veil. There are also pleasurable and heartfelt intellectual ways to
make the crossing. In the
levels ahead, we will explore how these means are practiced via the
creation of our finest
arts and sciences. Great art will be defined as an achievement that
begins with a spiritual
hunger and culminates in the discovery and communication of precious
“gifts” from the
noumenal realm to the phenomenal realm. These gifts are nourishments
that can be shared
among 5000 without them being diminished. Their miraculous fecundity
is explored in level 8.
For now, let's add some more images to our mural to enrichen what is
meant by the
phenomenal and noumenal realms. Not too far from the temple of science
we can draw the
ruins of the Tower of Babel with rough stones scattered about it. This
tower represents
an attempt to cross over to the noumenal realm using materials constructed
solely from
the phenomenal realm. It is a doomed project. In present day science,
there are many
campaigns (e.g. artificial intelligence) which endeavor to reach across
the chasm using
simple phenomenal objects. We can illustrate these endeavors by showing
men and women
working with beams and wires and cantileavering them far out over the
chasm. From a few
of these precarious projections one can see the construction material
breaking away and its
hapless workers falling into the abyss. Not all means to cross over
are doomed to fail, but
most are. From an observatory atop the temple of science, we can show
men peering into
telescopes and trying to gaze directly into the noumenal realm. In
a courtyard we can show
men examining rocks drawn from holes drilled deep into the earth. Along
the exposed face
of the chasm on the phenomenal side we can show paleontologists extracting
fossils from the
exposed strata. Each of these methods has virtues that can be used
or wasted.
For a magical image of a successful crossing over to the noumenal realm,
we can draw a
fairytale beanstalk and show Jack descending it with a singing harp.
Jack’s story begins
with his family being hungry. Jack sells their only cow for some beans
that he doesn’t realize
are magical. This is a key. During the night (oh holy night),
the beans produce an incredible
plant that grows and stretches high into the sky (where the abyss can
be crossed trivially).
In the morning, Jack climbs the wondrous stalk and has adventures.
While on the “otherside”,
he finds a castle and a silent harp that he wishes to bring back
to his home. During the
excitement of stealing the harp and bringing it to earth, the harp
comes alive and sings
beautifully and awakens the giant. Jack rushes back down the stalk,
effectively crosses
back from the noumenal realm to the ordinary phenomenal realm, and
brings the enchanting
harp. His homecoming is like William Blake returning with his engravings,
like Prometheus
returning with fire or like Albert Einstein returning with the field
equations unifying space,
time and matter. In “Jack and the Bean Stalk” we have a journey to
the “otherside” through
which a marvelous gift is brought from the Heavens. One can visualize
this story on our mural
with the bean stalk rooted in the phenomenal realm and towering up
an over the abyss to the
mythical otherside. To reach the otherside, Jack begins with something
out of the ordinary,
the magical beans, or if you think about it, a hopeless belief that
the beans might provide more
food than his cow. This is the leap of faith that propels Jack up the
bean stock and over the abyss.
It is through leaps of faith that people intentionally cross the abyss.
Their reward is riches
that lie beyond the world of appearances. A person of no faith and
no hopes and no dreams
is one who greedily hordes up superficial things and lives in a dark
hell that we can draw
in the bottom left corner of the mural. Near this hell, we can show
pirates and plagiarists
that are unable to create wealth.
The top right corner of the mural would then be a heaven. We can color
our mural so that
it is rosier and more inviting as one progresses from left to right.
The noumenal realm can
be populated by ethereal gods, pristine mountains and luscious plants.
In Greek mythology,
there are many tales of gods crossing from the noumenal realm to the
phenomenal realm.
The gods wish to be human, because they know that the phenomenal realm
is not an inferior
realm. To them, gross matter and bodily flesh are sacred. They know
the mystery of existence.
Let us put one of these myths in our mural. On the phenomenal side,
we can show Actaeon
hunting with his 50 hounds in a dense forest that borders the chasm.
In a small clearing,
Actaeon suddenly espies the goddess Artemis bathing in a spring. If
Actaeon had simply
heard Artemis or simply intuited her presence, he would be safe. It’s
OK to listen to God
and feel his presence, but no one is supposed to actually see Him.
Actaeon actually sees
Artemis; she punishes him for his violation by changing him into a
stag and setting his 50
hounds upon him. This is the high price that Actaeon pays for improperly
crossing over the
abyss. To see so clearly, he must first be changed into a beast.
Through prayer and supplication we can listen to God and talk to God,
but it is improper
to talk about seeing God. The accepted means call for our inner participation.
To cross the
chasm between literal appearances and ultimate reality, one has to
step into airy nothingness
and meet Him halfway "with all of one’s heart, all of one’s soul and
all of one’s mind". This
bold leap of faith is a personal and creative act. It works because
there really is an otherside
that transcends all representations and unifies our experiences.
Actaeon’s encounter seems unfair, because in truth, there are beneficial
winds blowing
all the time to make our feable efforts to cross over unreasonably
effective. These are the
currents that Tennyson refers to when he claims that “A small vessel
on fine lines is likely
to float further than a great raft." With some artistry, we can show
these winds as beneficial
tutelary spirits buoying our spirits across the abyss. Sighing in these
winds is an immeasurable
sorrow and lamentation for all of the suffering that mankind has born.
It is a cleansing song
that helps us face each day with a renewed strength and an increased
sensitivity for our
innumerable relationships and profound attachments. These hidden bonds
unify the themes
in our mural; they are the delicate and tenacious strands in the webs
of life. We can show
some of the hidden connections by tilting our mural so that we can
see, for example, the
roots of the forest and the undercurrents of the spring for Artemis’s
bath. The roots reach
out like a thousand unseen fingers groping and searching for nutrients.
The primordial
activity in this undergrowth is a reflection of the reaching and probing
occurring on the
surface as our hearts and minds extend themselves across the abyss
to the noumenal realm.
As above, so below, goes the ancient saw.
For us to cross the abyss, we must do intentionally what plants do unconsciously
and what
animals do through simple curiosity or hunger. At our level it is called
a leap of faith or going
on an adventure, for animals it is simply sniffing for food. For plants,
it is finding the best path
to water and sunlight. For inanimate matter, the path of least resistance
(or least action) is
formed by simultaneously trying all possibilities at once and letting
the resultant path fall out
trivially from the calculus. (More on this in level 9). The secret
of life is happening all of the
time around you, above and below with primal "fingers" reaching into
everywhere and everywhen.
Hidden organic links form and disappear, mirroring the ephemeral links
of our own growing
Internet. On our mural we can show scientists peering into their excavations
of earth and trying
to unravel laws of evolution and trying to derive consciousness from
life’s primordial strivings.
With the mural drawn in its more 3-dimensional tilted form, we can better
visualize the hidden
subterranean connections and also, in the sky above, tutelary spirits
and even bolts from the blue.
For plants and most animals, there is no sharp division between the
phenomenal and the noumenal
realms. For us, it is our consciousness and our free wills that have
created the abyss. The act of
crossing over demands a conscious intentional effort. “God helps those
who helps themselves”.
“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make a horse drink.”
On the phenomenal side of the
mural, we can show a horse by the abyss being beckoned to drink from
a pale of water held by
elves on the noumenal side. The elves are holding the pale out over
a narrow portion of the abyss
and trying to get the horse’s attention. We must meet the gods halfway.
To get our attention, they
resort to enchantments. To sanctify our wills, “to be our own deliverers”
we must distinguish
our true calling from mere siren calls. In our mural, we can show sirens
on a charming isle in
the River Styx, calling men to oblivion.
The easiest way to simply use your mind to cross the abyss is to realize
that “There must needs
be a difference between truth and appearances”.* This is the ancient
lesson that began this series
and which we will transcend using quantum physics and Niels Bohr’s
complementary way of
thinking in levels 4-6. To illustrate it on our mural, we could show
a close up of Bohr’s classroom
in the temple of science with a shattered mirror to one side, and on
the blackboard, the formulae
given in Level 6. The lessons of quantum physics are manyfold. In part,
they point to invariant
structures like the periodic table of elements that reside in the noumenal
realm. Quantum physics
teaches that certain aspects of reality must be achieved and cannot
be simply mirrored. These
lessons unveil the following cryptic admonishment from the poet Yeats:
It must go further still: that soul must become its own betrayer,
Its own deliverer, the one activity, the mirror turn lamp.
(More on this in levels 8-9). For a primal example of a mirror
becoming a lamp,
we can show on our mural Michelangelo’s Adam, reaching for God, and
his reach
being rewarded by God’s strong hand. When their hands clasp the circuit
for
creating life and meaning is made whole.
The challenge is to cross the abyss from one side to the other, and
back again,
over and over again. It is an ancient challenge for which we have new
and
rigorous solutions. The focus here is on the act of crossing.
How is it accomplished?
For many people our mural may be way too fanciful. There are a large
number of
scientists and nihilists who have a mechanical view of the universe.
They think
that reaching the noumenal realm is simply a matter of technique or
of managing
complexity. For them, the noumenal realm is just more of the phenomenal
world.
They think they can inch their way to it in small steps and never face
the abyss.
It is possible that a handful of these materialist actually do make
it across the abyss,
one precarious step after another. Not every mechanical view of the
world has
been proven wrong. Thousands of talented individuals are trying to
sketch how
consciousness might emerge from primitive seeming forms.
Most people think that our science cannot give us a complete understanding
of
consciousness. They probably are right. Under the stress of a tragedy
many people
make an unexpected crossing of the abyss. On rare occasions, a joyous
experience
can cause a rapturous transport from the phenomenal realm to the noumenal
realm.
The challenge for an artist or wizard is to make the crossing with
some sort of
regularity. This is where the aesthetics of enchantment comes
into play. To make
the crossing repeatable, we have to turn it into an art, a science!
Most of the lower left portion of the mural is the "booming buzzing
confusion" of
ordinary life. People can break out of this Maya through simple acts
of faith, by
unconscously taking bold steps into the thin air of the abyss.
Do not worry too much about the fanciful nouns used here, our concern
is really with
verbs— the act of crossing the "river". These verbs can be represented
by arrows.
Long green arrows can symbolize "home runs" (like Beethoven's 9th)
sent deep into
the unseeable noumenal realm. Red arrows can be drawn for attempts
that are stopped
by falsehoods and plunge into the abyss. Any of these abstract notions
could be expressed
using Greek mythology. That does not mean that the ancient Greeks had
a firm grasp of
these ideas. Instead, it means that we are confronting difficult perennial
issues for living
a meaningful life. The particular images are important, but the real
goal is to create an
effect that transcends them!
Blowing high aloft over our map are sweet winds that make each arrow’s
time aloft
unreasonably long. “God is deep, but not malicious”*.
Go with the flow; sub-create!
In the noumenal realm there are attractors, pools and eddies. The celestial
winds are
like one’s accompanying muse, guardian angel or genius. It’s the little
bird on your
shoulder. These are all just images. They are part of a game.
The important thing is
to play along so that you might experience the magic.
To help us reach the otherside, we can use some form of devotional art.
The actual art
objects that one might use are in themselves powerless. There is no
glowing chalice or
weeping statue. The magic only occurs while the object is being used
and appreciated
or while it is being created. We can imagine each artistic endeavor
being represented
by an arrow rising up from the phenemonal realm of our mural. Only
a few of the arrows
make it across the abyss. Many land back in the phenomenal realm and
some plunge
deep into the abyss, right into the Jaws of Hell. A few shiny arrows,
however, push
deep into the noumenal realm and strike near its top right corner.
They represent the
greatest art that has been produced. How do these arrows attain their
remarkably long
flight? In the final levels of this series we will explore the origin
of their mysterious
lift and ask if they make the universe fly.
Within the broad phenomenal realm is a region of clear and objective
concepts useful to
science. On the other side of the abyss, in the noumenal realm is a
controversial region
where we can house the scientists Niels Bohr and Goethe. They are Giants
who have
crossed the abyss using essentially scientific means. They are wizards
who can teach us
how to make the crossing consistently. Niels Bohr learned how to transcend
the limitations
of the phenomenal realm by using rigorous methods underpinned by the
real quantum of
action. Bohr's secrets will be disclosed in the lessons of the quantum
ahead.
A hundred years earlier, Goethe had a glimmer of Bohr’s vision but primarily
used another
insight to make his crossings. Goethe delved deep into the fundamental
yearning and striving
that causes arrows to be released from anywhere in the phenomenal realm.
Goethe uncovered
a universal principle of growth common to man, plants, animals and
crystals. His insights into
metamorphosis can be adapted to include Darwin’s theory of evolution.
Of course, Goethe
was unaware of genetics (as was Darwin!) and could only make an educated
guess using the
tools available to him. If he were alive today, he might send his arrows
across the abyss using
the calculus of variations in the form of Feynman’s democratic sum
over all conceivable
histories. To the uninitiated, I am talking about Stephen Hawking’s
universe and the emergence
of consciousness. To those who still don’t have a clue, I am talking
about the importance of
unselfish personal effort and initiative. The important thing to realize
is that rigorous means
are today known for crossing the abyss! These issues will be clarified
in the levels ahead
and rendered in the simplest possible terms.
The reason why most people fail to connect with ultimate reality is
that they unconsciously
commit idolatry. They mistake shadows for substances and like the dog
in Aesop’s fable,
they drop what bone of truth they have into the river Styx. Niels Bohr
has a powerful and
rigorous way of preventing idolatry called complementarity.
Bohr used his special way
of thinking to coordinate and reconcile a diverse range of phenomena
at the heart of physics,
and also in fields far removed from the hard sciences. In the next
few levels you will have
the opportunity to learn Bohr’s tricks. We then try to uncover Goethe’s
secrets.
The physics of Newton and Einstein is a region of the phenomenal realm
called classical
physics. Overlapping this region and almost touching the abyss is the
world of quantum
physics. From the portion of the quantum world overlapped by classical
physics, we can
send an arrow to Bohr in the noumenal realm labeled C for complementarity.
The portion
of the classical realm closest to the abyss but separate from quantum
physics is Einstein’s
Theory of General Relativity. We can send an arrow (labeled c for covariance)
across the
abyss from General Relativity to the small establishment of science
in the noumenal realm.
Related to these arrows are others labeled S for symmetry
and U for unity because in the
noumenal realm we have Beauty and Unity. For the more controversial
work of Darwin
and Goethe, we have arrows labeled åH
which stand for the successful use of Feynman’s
“sum over all histories” and its latent “Principle of Least Action”.
These arrows arc to
totem poles planted in the noumenal realm! We will return to this later
without mathematics.
This is our "map" along with its cryptic symbols. Now, let us recall
how we left Faust
grumbling in his study and wishing to flee. Let's zoom in on the temple
of science and
try again to make the equations scrawled on its floor fly. Let's
focus on those written
by Albert Einstein (1879-1955). Here is a deceptively simple one: it
says
Ruv - ½ guvR = 8pTuv.
What is special about this cryptic formula? In 30 seconds ...
it is Einstein's field equation coupling the dynamics of matter &
energy with the
kinematics of our curved space-time geometry. The equation is actually
a shorthand
notation for a system of 10 partial differential equations. To apply
this system to a
particular situation, one must also introduce boundary conditions or
initial conditions.
A famous solution of these equations is a cosmic formula for the expansion
of our
universe!* When the geometric terms on the left side of the equations
are identified
with the "stress-energy tensor" on the right side, one automatically
obtains a statement
concerning the conservation of energy and momentum that is true regardless
of one’s
situation. Energy is not created or destroyed; it is simply transformed
into different forms.
Similarly, momentum is preserved. Einstein's equations coupling matter
to geometry
explain why energy cannot be destroyed. The whole point of Einstein’s
curved space-time
is that it automatically derives all of the classical properties of
matter and energy!
Do not worry if you do not understand this.
Although some systems of equations are indeed powerful, it is important
to remember
that each is inherently limited; each is a mere image that has to be
balanced with
complementary images to achieve any sort of wisdom. The
beginning of wisdom is a
Faustian unrest; a recognition that one has walked with blinders and
missed the world.
An equation is just an abstract picture. Our deeper concern here is
the proper use of
art for crossing the abyss from the superficial world of appearances
to what really
exists. Ultimate reality is beyond pictures; we can think about it,
but any attempt to
give it a clear representation will fail. This is not because it is
too difficult to picture.
Instead, it is because its reality is beyond geometry! The quantum
revolution has given
us proof of this fact. That doesn't mean that the equations of quantum
physics describe
ultimate reality. Each equation is still just a limited picture. It
is from the way these
equations are used and interpreted that we discover that atomic entities
have no
fundamental visual existence. There is a huge difference between something
that
has no visual existence and something that is just difficult to picture
like Einstein's
field equations.
Regardless of what is meant by the R, g or T in his equations, one must
appreciate
that Einstein sought for laws that are independent of our minds. His
quest began with a
growing sense of wonder and reverence for simple nature. Einstein longed
to reach out
and touch nature, but he did not want to defile her with man-made artifacts.
He sought
for a formulation of her laws and principles that is independent of
us. He knew that a
mathematical description could not be complete, but he also sensed
that with the right
use of mathematics, there are powers quite beyond us. Einstein searched
and tested
for physical equations that are free of space & time; their form
is unchanged regardless
of ones location or movement in the universe. Einstein wanted the white
truth, uncolored
and undefiled by man. He found it in equations that are covariant:
free of the peculiar
baggage that a particular observer might bring with him.
Covariant equations do not fly. However, the scientific spirit which
discovered them
does indeed fly. Covariant equations are way stations upon a great
white mountain
whose summit is veiled by clouds. Einstein's quest was a continuation
of the Copernican
and Galilean revolutions. Humility and penitence were in his Genius.
Eliminate the observer; that is the rule for making equations true
and lean.
That is the theme which to our world view has brought the machine!
Here is a dilemma for science and art. Science says, "Eliminate the
observer".
Art says, "The observer is all important". A romantic can lament that
in Einstein's
cosmos, man has no special place; he can not see his own face!
"O Faust," he cries, "let us fly from here, this science is much too
drear!"
Here is the divide between natural philosophy and moral philosophy.
Perhaps it
can be bridged via the same instinct that makes Faust fly from his
study. Although
Goethe's Faust sells his soul to the devil (Mephistopheles), he is
in the end saved
by his persistent lifelong striving and longing for purity. What is
this peculiar unrest
of his? What is this little bird that informs in Faust and Wheeler
the notion that their
science is necessary but not sufficient? What is this "flying" of which
they speak?
It is man's noble drives that give him wings and make the universe fly.
Rather than fly hither and thither, why not just clasp that which makes
us fly?
Away with nouns, let's explore the verbs behind every urge!
In the beginning was the deed! Let the arrows fly!
To transcend the cold materialism inherent in science, you must tap
its hidden virtue.
Impartial objective knowledge is Science's goal. To discover Life,
one must
forsake one's own life; that is the paradox. Through Science, one can
renounce one's
prejudices and rise above them. One sheds one's baggage and becomes
light enough
to fly. By "baggage", I mean an unwarranted attachment to certain frames
of reference.
Quantum theory can carry us a long ways forward in helping us recognize
and transcend
our frames of reference, our biases. It helps us to "eliminate the
observer" by showing
just what the observer is doing. This is controversial material, however,
the approach
used here involves the conventional mainstream physics of Niels Bohr.
Click
on the wizard to rise to the next level.
This is by far the longest page in this series.
Web surfers who have wormholed directly to this level could profit
by exploring the levels they have missed. Click below to jump to
.. Level 0 .. Level
1 .. Level 2 ..
* John Wheeler on page 1208 of Gravitation: a beautiful treatise
on Einstein's
Theory of Relativity. Previous page, level 2,
builds up to this poetic crisis.
* Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832)
Faust (lines 2038-39, 3457-58, 384-385)
Translated from German by Walter Kaufmann, 1961
* Year 1413 quote from Lydg. in Pylgr. Sowle IV. xxx (1483) 80
This is from the Oxford English Dictionary.
* English translation of a German phrase by Einstein
inscribed over a fireplace at Princeton University
* Expansion of the Universe: (dS/dt)2 - 2M/S = ±1.
On the right side, use +1 for a "closed" universe; use -1 if the universe
is "open"
as it probably is according to a wealth of experimental evidence. dS/dt
is the
rate at which the Universe changes its size or breadth. M is related
to the total
Mass of the Universe, although such a concept does not really exist.
S, t & M
are fraught with difficulties in trying to visualize them, but they
are still just
simple picture elements. Presently, the ratio S/(dS/dt) is 20-40% larger
than
the following interesting number 1010 = ten billion earth
years! Its inverse is
called the Hubble constant. These details are for your aesthetic appreciation.
Do not worry if they are way outside your training and experience.