Faster than light, light

Gordon Fitch gcf at panix.com
Fri Jul 21 06:17:25 PDT 2000


Chris Burford wrote:
> > Did not Marx or Engels say something about having no fixed point from which
> > to observe the universe? I cannot place the quote.

Peter van Heusden:
> Oh, good. Marx and Engels as the guide to post-Einstein physics. Chris, do
> you realise how insane you are?
> ...

I've been told that the fact that there is no apparent preferred frame of reference in the physical universe was noted by Galileo and that scientists and others of succeeding generations were well aware of it. Like the related roundness of the Earth, it is appealing to philosophical metaphorization, so it would not be surprising if Marx had mentioned it.

I once read a Marxist denunciation of Relativity -- the author seemed to confuse materialism with matter and felt that matter, being shifted around with energy and space and time, was not receiving due respect -- and I realized that a certain kind of mentality (with which Galileo was familiar) never seems to die. It's my impression that most Marxists are okay with Relativity, however. I don't know about Quantum Mechanics, though.



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