Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Bio
Scott Douglas Jacobsen is the publisher of In-Sight Publishing (ISBN: 978-1-0692343) and Editor-in-Chief of In-Sight: Interviews (ISSN: 2369-6885). He is a member in good standing of numerous media organizations.
Stories (101)
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Fumfer Physics 21: Cosmic Obliteration, Time, and the Faintest Photon
In this thought-provoking exchange, Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner explore whether the universe could suddenly vanish—an instantaneous obliteration consistent with certain relativistic and quantum-mechanical models. Rosner compares such an event to the physical annihilation of information in a brain destroyed in milliseconds, extending the metaphor to cosmic scales. The conversation delves into the idea of localized collapses, reversals of time, and Frank Tipler’s controversial “resurrection” cosmology. It concludes with speculation on whether photons can fade into nonexistence through infinite redshift, raising questions about how the universe tracks—or forgets—its most fundamental information.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen3 months ago in Interview
Fumfer Physics 20: Time, Black Holes, and 3D Space
Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner examine Information Cosmology (IC) as an alternative lens on gravity, time, and dimensionality. IC treats the universe as an information processor: no true event horizons, no infinite-density singularities—only quantum limits on compressibility and information flow. Time slows near collapsed matter yet remains dynamic at the center. Extra dimensions are informationally expensive, so reality stabilizes to three after early fuzzy epochs. Redshift reflects informational segregation; correlated histories cluster locally. Photons exemplify dimensionless behavior until interactions set geometry. A universal clock emerges from global information updates, roughly aligning subjective brain time with overall objective cosmic ticks.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen3 months ago in Interview
Fumfer Physics 19: Galactic Filaments, Gravitational Waves
In Fumfer Physics, Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner explore the physics of gravitational wells, rotational asymmetry, and the nature of galactic filaments. They discuss how irregularly rotating massive objects emit gravitational waves—steady hums or periodic pulses—and how galaxies align along cosmic filaments forming the universe’s vast web. Rosner draws a bold analogy between these cosmic structures and the human brain’s associative networks: both systems light up, store, and transmit information. Their dialogue connects astrophysics, consciousness, and cosmic evolution, suggesting that the universe itself might operate through mechanisms of activation, dormancy, and renewal across billions of years.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen3 months ago in Interview
Fumfer Physics 18: Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling and the Engineering of Quantum Reality
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis for their pioneering work on macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling and energy quantization in electrical circuits. Their achievement bridges theory and engineering by revealing quantum behavior in large, engineered systems—once thought confined to atomic scales. This experimental triumph laid groundwork for quantum computing, where maintaining fragile quantum states enables calculations beyond classical limits. Their work embodies the precision and universality of quantum mechanics, a cornerstone of modern physics and technology, reaffirming its supremacy in explaining nature’s smallest and now, surprisingly, larger scales.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen3 months ago in Interview
Fumfer Physics 17: When Space, Matter, Information, and Time Must Scale Together
Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner flip their ongoing exploration of an information-based cosmos to ask what IC forbids. Rosner argues that in IC the scale of space, number of objects, total information, and cosmic age must co-scale, ruling out “fuzzy” universes where matter dwarfs information capacity. IC, like mainstream physics, demands self-consistency: macroscopic objects persist independent of viewpoint.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen3 months ago in Interview
Fumfer Physics 16: Gravitational Lensing as Information, What Warped Photons Reveal
Gravitational lensing can be read as an informational process: gravity reshapes photon trajectories, encoding maps of mass and curvature into observable distortions, magnifications, and time delays. On galactic and cluster scales, lenses reveal dark matter distributions; on cosmic scales, cumulative lensing and expansion geometry alter apparent sizes and brightnesses across look-back time. Compact objects—black holes, neutron stars, brown dwarfs—add microlensing noise that, in aggregate, conveys counts of nonluminous matter, though single remnants rarely dominate. Observing a younger, smaller universe at greater distances that still spans our sky reflects both curvature and expansion history. In short, warped light is measured information.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen3 months ago in Education
Fumfer Physics 15: Gravitational Lensing Discoveries and the Limits of the Big Bang Model
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Rick Rosner about the recent surge in gravitational lensing discoveries and their implications for cosmology. Rosner explains how modern instruments are producing vast amounts of data, sometimes straining existing theoretical frameworks. He outlines the history of the Big Bang model, from Hubble’s redshift law to the cosmic microwave background, and its ongoing refinement through inflation and the ΛCDM model. Reflecting on confirmation bias, Rosner considers how his own information-centric perspective shapes his interpretations. The discussion underscores both the resilience of the Big Bang framework and the open questions driving contemporary astrophysics.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen3 months ago in Education
Fumfer Physics 14: Dynamic Mathematical Organisms
In this dialogue, Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner explore the nature of organisms as products of evolution and information-processing systems. Jacobsen frames organisms as dynamic mathematical objects shaped by natural laws and mathematics, raising questions about higher purposes. Rosner highlights that many microorganisms, even without brains, display behaviours through tropisms and adaptive responses. Organisms survive by building internal models of their environment, predicting outcomes, and adjusting behaviour. They process sensory input through contextual frameworks that give information meaning. Rosner emphasizes evolutionary traits, the seven biological life processes, and the negentropic quality of life that maintains order in the face of entropy.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen3 months ago in Education
Riane Eisler on Fibonacci Numbers, AI, and the Search for Truth
Riane Tennenhaus Eisler (born July 22, 1931, Vienna) is an Austrian-born American social systems scientist, cultural historian, futurist, attorney, and author. As a child she fled Nazi-occupied Austria with her parents in 1939, lived seven years in Havana’s industrial slums, and later emigrated to the United States; she went on to earn a B.A. (magna cum laude) and J.D. from UCLA. Eisler is best known for The Chalice and the Blade (1987), which introduced her “domination vs. partnership” framework for analyzing social systems. Her latest book is Nurturing Our Humanity with anthropologist Douglas Fry, Oxford University Press, 2019.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen3 months ago in Education
Fumfer Physics 13: Information, Entropy, and the Universe’s Memory
Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner explore the elusive meaning of information in the universe. Jacobsen frames physical impacts, like smashing a rock, as information exchanges, then asks how fluids, solids, and plasmas differ in recording such exchanges. Rosner notes humans treat information as news or signals, but cosmically, “it from bit” theorists see every quantum event as informational. Yet many events, like collisions or solar reactions, leave no lasting record. He compares this to consciousness, where micro-events are integrated into larger patterns. The dialogue highlights entropy, durability of records, and whether the universe meaningfully “remembers” its countless micro-events.
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen3 months ago in Education
