Two Thought-Experiment Analogies in the PEI Framework
How PEI thinks about gravity and cosmic expansion
The Paudelian Economics Institute (PEI) uses thought-experiment analogies not as literal physical claims, but as conceptual tools. Their purpose is to help readers separate observation from interpretation, and to explore alternative ways of understanding familiar phenomena.
Two such analogies play a central role in PEI’s current thinking:
the clay-sphere with an invisible magnet, and
the firecracker explosion analogy for cosmic expansion.
Together, they illustrate how PEI approaches gravity and the large-scale behavior of the universe.
1. The clay-sphere analogy: gravity as a generated influence
The first analogy imagines a clay sphere with an invisible magnet at its center. From the outside, the sphere appears uniform. Yet iron particles placed nearby are drawn inward—not by the clay itself, but by the unseen magnet inside.
PEI uses this analogy to distinguish:
what is visible from
what generates force.
In this framework:
the magnet represents an internal generative core,
the clay represents accumulated matter (dust, debris, shell),
attraction originates from the core, not the exterior mass.
This analogy helps explain why PEI separates source from appearance in its gravity framework. It does not claim gravity is magnetic; it simply illustrates that forces need not originate in what is externally observed.
2. The firecracker analogy: expansion as ongoing motion
The second analogy addresses a different question:
Why do galaxies appear to be moving away from one another?
PEI invites readers to imagine a firecracker exploding in open space.
When the explosion occurs:
fragments are violently ejected outward,
each fragment continues moving due to inertia,
long after the explosion, the fragments are still separating.
At any later moment, an observer measuring distances between fragments would conclude that:
“Everything is moving away from everything else.”
Yet crucially:
space itself is not expanding,
no new explosion is occurring,
the motion is simply the continuation of an initial ejection.
3. PEI’s interpretation of cosmic expansion
Within PEI’s framework, the observed expansion of the universe is interpreted analogously.
PEI proposes that:
the Big Bang was a cosmic apocalypse, an unimaginably large explosive event,
matter and gravitational cores were ejected outward at extreme velocities,
the current expansion reflects ongoing motion, not ongoing creation of space.
In this view:
the universe is not expanding in the sense of space stretching,
rather, the contents of the universe are still in motion,
cosmic expansion is a kinematic aftereffect, not a dynamic stretching of spacetime.
This interpretation reframes expansion as continued scattering, not continuous expansion.
4. How this differs from the standard spacetime view
In standard cosmology, expansion is usually described as:
space itself expanding,
galaxies remaining locally at rest while space stretches between them.
But PEI asks:
Is expansion necessarily a property of space, or could it be a legacy of initial motion?
The firecracker analogy illustrates that increasing separation does not uniquely imply expanding space. Separation can also arise from sustained inertial motion following an initial event.
5. Why PEI uses analogies at all
PEI’s analogies are not meant to replace equations or observations. Their purpose is different:
to challenge hidden assumptions,
to show that familiar observations can admit multiple coherent interpretations,
to encourage foundational questioning rather than immediate conclusions.
Just as the clay-sphere analogy separates force generation from visible mass, the firecracker analogy separates expansion from motion.
6. A unified perspective
Together, the two analogies express a consistent PEI philosophy:
Gravity originates from internal generative structures, not accumulated shells.
Cosmic expansion reflects the enduring consequences of a primordial event, not necessarily the stretching of space itself.
In both cases, PEI emphasizes origin over description, cause over appearance, and process over assumption.
Closing perspective
PEI does not claim that these analogies disprove existing theories. Instead, they serve as conceptual lenses—ways to think differently about gravity and cosmic expansion without dismissing what has already been learned.
Whether these perspectives ultimately prove fruitful is an open question. What matters is that they expand the space of inquiry. And in science, asking new questions has often been the first step toward deeper understanding.