If you haven't read my earlier post, this post won't make much sense.
So here is the answer to my puzzle.
All motion is relative to the observer. Because you are sitting on earth, you see the sun (and other planets) going around you. If you were sitting on the sun (fat chance!), you'd see the all the planets going around you. If you were sitting on Mars, you'd see the Sun and all the other planets (including Earth) going around you.
In each of these cases, the motion of these heavenly bodies can be calculated vis-a-vis the position that you are sitting on. Even before Copernicus and gang, the motion of the various planets and the sun was being calculated quite accurately by astronomers. But it turns out that these calculations were complex and not as accurate as the calculations that assumed the Sun to be the center. Keeping the Sun at the center made calculations for the motions of the heavenly bodies simpler and more accurate!
So, keeping the Sun at the center of the Solar System, nothing more than a change in perspective, made for simpler equations, which is why it makes sense from an astronomers/scientists perspective to work that way. On the ground, from a lay person's perspective, there is no difference!
Now, I go off on a limb... In eastern philosophy, this resolution to the apparent contradictions I'd posed reveals the essentially unknowable nature of Truth. Truth, in eastern philosophy is forever changed by perspective, so there is no way of approaching it. Rather than attempting the impossible, it is better to concentrate on other things like harmony in society and caring for others. In Western philosophy, however, this resolution implies that we have taken one step closer to the Truth - the path of reason reveals to us the ultimate Truth, which may one day be realizable! With our limited senses, we may never completely comprehend it, but we can always get ever closer.
Perhaps this difference is why Sanskrit has no true translation for the word "Reason".
Saturday, January 06, 2007
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