A Rational Cosmology: Resolutions to Several Questions Regarding Motion

The question might arise as to how one might precisely define the location of departure for a given moving object (i.e. the location from which motion was initiated) and its location of arrival (i.e. the location at which motion ends).

That is, how, given two different sets of spatiotemporal coordinates for an object at point A and the same object at point B, how can one state that the object moved from A to B and not vice versa?

The answer to such an inquiry would be that, out of all configurations of spatiotemporal coordinates pertaining to a given event of motion, the configuration with the smallest measurement of the entity's quality, time, also pertains to the location of departure, while the configuration wherein the entity's age is greatest out of the set pertains to the location of arrival, since arrival must take place after departure, and an object must accumulate age uniformly throughout the motion, as it would in stasis.

Furthermore, if we have two entities, X and Y, we can readily state whether X moved toward Y, Y moved toward X, or each of the entities moved some distance toward the other. If, on our coordinate system, X began at point A and remained at point A, then X must have remained in stasis. But if X began at point A and arrived at point B, then X must have moved from A to B. The same criteria would apply to Y or any other entity.

Thus far, we have spoken of an object's net displacement, i.e., the ultimate change in its spatial qualities as a result of motion during a given time interval. However, an object's motion from A to B in a straight line will be a different type of motion from motion in a zig-zag pattern from motion along a curve.

If the object moves continuously (which term we have yet to define), this will be a different motion from motion that is interrupted somewhere along the way by interludes of stasis.

The mathematical endeavors of Sir Isaac Newton have been able to produce a valid model for us to analyze the differences among these types of motion. Subsequent essays shall aim to demonstrate how the model of Newtonian calculus can be interpreted strictly in terms of the entities that exist and their actual qualities, so that this model might be used in coordination with the proper generalizations that its correctness presupposes.

Read other parts of "A Rational Cosmology" by clicking here.