What I Like About Writing by John R. Haws

	What I Like About Writing by John R. Haws

	I truly believe writing is the purest form of human communication. Verbal communication is so easily misunderstood. Body language, hand gestures and tonal inflections often make verbal communication mean something entirely different than what was actually said. "Noooo…" with just the right tonal inflection means "Yes!"

	Not so in writing. WYSIWYG, that is; What You See Is What You Get - even if you don't mean it. There is little room for misunderstanding in the written word. Writing also has the distinct advantage of rewriting. Not so with the spoken word. How many times have I said something and then went "Oops! I didn't mean to say that." Unfortunately, it is too late to take it back. "The jury will discard the last statement by the witness." Fat chance!

	Writing and rewriting gives me, the writer, time to reflect on my choice of words and my choice of phrases. I get second, third and fourth chances to write in the most persuasive manner possible. I can play with the meanings of my words. I can tickle my reader's imagination without even using a feather. I can spark an inquisitive thought by asking a provocative question. I can make a reader itch without touching him or her. And I can do all this without even getting out of my most comfortable chair. What a deal!

	But mostly, I like the freedom of expression that comes with writing. I can explore all kinds of ideas, weird and otherwise, that I wouldn't normally go around talking about. One of my favorite ideas and past-times for years has been the idea of a universal, Unified Field Theory. I came up with a simple, unique but most descriptive formula for my version of the Unified Field Theory. It reads like this: (1) must = 1 where: m = the units of mass of an object, u = a unity coefficient or constant; s = the units of space occupied by the object; t = the units of time for the object.

	The beauty of this simple formula is mind boggling. As the mass and space of an object grow bigger (as they approach infinity), the units of time contract and grow smaller (time units approach zero) - in order for unity to remain constant. As the mass and space of an object grow smaller (as they approach zero), the units of time expand and grow larger (time units approach infinity) - in order for unity to remain constant.

	Relative to a human being, the expansion of time units for very small objects (mesons, photons) makes the lifetimes of those objects appear to be very short. They are not short lifetimes to the objects themselves. They are only short to us - the huge human observer.

	By contrast, the contraction of time units for very large objects (stars and galaxies) makes their lifetimes appear to be very long periods of time for us. They are not long lifetimes for the objects themselves. They are only long to us - the small human observer.

	My idea for a unity coefficient or constant is significantly different than most other mathematicians. I see in the Unified Field Theory a unity coefficient not as a single value; but rather, as a set of values or a series of numerical possibilities. One of the characteristics of quantum mechanics is that things do not change smoothly or gradually, but rather in quantum leaps. Thus, a unity coefficient that actually changes by leaps is sort of a contradiction. The unity coefficient change would occur when the product of an object's mass and the space it occupies reaches a certain level (quanta). Then and only then would the unity coefficient roll up or down a notch.

	I would like to believe that the variability of the unity coefficient follows some logical formula such as jumps up or down by prime number values. But that remains to be established.

	Considering how much space dust and debris there is in a single galaxy, I'm inclined to believe that travel at or near the speed of light inside a galaxy is an extremely dangerous task and probably not a good idea. Travel between galaxies is another thing altogether. Here, there is likely to be very little stardust and debris and travel at or about light speed is probably a safe bet. Even so, considerable magnetic shielding is almost certainly going to be a requirement for the outer hulls of all inter-galactic space ships.

	What is so amazing about this dialogue with myself is the probability of its certainty. It's not like I'm a science fiction writer making these things up. These events are extremely probable certainties that will most likely occur within the lifetimes of my two sons, ages six and four.

	See how easy it is to just let one's thoughts and imagination flow freely. There are no constraints here - just pure speculation, pure conjecture, pure scientific wild-ass guess (SWAG).

	July 2002 Return to Essays