As I was reading Cliffords newest entry on Cosmic Variance site, his trip reminded me of the hike we took to see the Big Horn Medicine Wheel.
Now what is interesting about this is I am not one who has had much association with such places of observatories, but far up to the left of this wheel is one that seems very out of place.
Ironic in the sense that ole history about these "Medicine Wheels" could have brought such historical perspective to the science. Look at the universe, from a place where ancient artifacts gathered.
At the center of the wheel there is a raised central cairn, and several others on the periphery of the wheel. These have been alleged to have astronomical alignments. Astronomer John Eddy suggested that a line drawn between the central cairn and an outlying cairn at the Bighorn Medicine Wheel pointed to within 1/3 of a degree of the rising point of the sun at the summer solstice. The actual astronomical purpose of the design of these wheels remains controversial. The design may also have assisted in the performance of specific rituals and ceremonies that have been lost to us. The 28 spokes could indicate the lunar month, or the length of the female menstrual cycle.
But I am not going to join the speculative feature of this wonderment, but to bring forward the understanding that mountains that may look the same, may have other reasons like it does for Clifford and his views of home. That for him to look, and have something nagged his "observatory mind" would have been as simple as "cheez, it looks like home."
Well from a more suttle place, I bring forward the understanding that our perspective about cosmology, our understanding of the uniqueness of Omega? The implications of General Relativity, and how Alexanders Firedmann's eqaution is part and parcel of the understandng of a geometry. That helps lead the mind into the ability to see dynamicals of this universe. How would your obervation have changed with such paradigmal changes. In Toposense, is speak to that as well as relate that General Realtivity had it's saem consequence. Ask Sean about that one?
Now we engage the spacetime fabric. This dynamcial abiltiy would not be seen before without this geometrical prospensity. So having been taken over by paradigmal change, the visionistic approach is one based on geometrical design, where the uniqueness of such correlations in the views of where nature resides. Brings one closer to the very spots we call "home". This is a real place for clifford, and yet without inducing such mysticism, this is also a place I draw from.
Now you say this guy is nuts. But imagine the science that leads one to see such topolgical realizations would take cosmological priciples about this epxanding universe and find that in a Genus example of the spherical WMAP of creation, there are abilities of this universe to become, well, lets say like images of marbles on rubber sheets, and how did such isolated cases exist within the greater potential of this universe to unfold and one is lead to portions of objective collapses that help to bring a greater dynamcial view about this same cosmos.
What makes this different is I relate topo-sense as a real part of paradigmal change.
The theory of relativity predicts that, as it orbits the Sun, Mercury does not exactly retrace the same path each time, but rather swings around over time. We say therefore that the perihelion -- the point on its orbit when Mercury is closest to the Sun -- advances.
I encourage such changes when we learn( or are really a result of such learning). Who could not get this sense from, Mercuries Daisey, or Hulse and Taylor Binary star rotations that release "gravitation waves" that give us information about how close they are becoming. What's it's predictve date about coming together?
While I relate Mecuries orbital patterns, such sense is not limited to here. Other idealizations as well, that we might wonder indeed how vast this landcape idea, when you consider the >Lagrange points?:)