Is Max Tegmark really a minority of one?

[bostonnew]

Hi all,

I've spent some time studying the different interpretations of quantum mechanics and have come to the conclusions that none of them really make sense to me. Which made me think that that in itself actually makes sense as I'm just an African ape whose brain certainly didn't evolve in order to understand the deeper laws of nature.

My newfound worldview is therefore that of Max Tegmark: All human interpretations of mathematics are bound to be flawed, because they are developed by humans. So if we want to understand the universe we should just "shut up and calculate", as his paper goes.

Now, since this line of reasoning is so sensible to me, I'm curious as to which other contemporary philosophers, mathematicians, or phycisists share this world view.

Can you guys help me identify them? Or is Tegmark really a minority of one, as he claims?

Thanks!

[KingNothing]

I'm just an African ape whose brain certainly didn't evolve in order to understand the deeper laws of nature.

I'm not saying you meant it this way, but when I first read this, I thought it was an insult to Africans.

[disregardthat]

"Shut up and calculate", I like that.

[CyberShot]

Hi all,

I've spent some time studying the different interpretations of quantum mechanics and have come to the conclusions that none of them really make sense to me. Which made me think that that in itself actually makes sense as I'm just an African ape whose brain certainly didn't evolve in order to understand the deeper laws of nature.

My newfound worldview is therefore that of Max Tegmark: All human interpretations of mathematics are bound to be flawed, because they are developed by humans. So if we want to understand the universe we should just "shut up and calculate", as his paper goes.

Now, since this line of reasoning is so sensible to me, I'm curious as to which other contemporary philosophers, mathematicians, or phycisists share this world view.

Can you guys help me identify them? Or is Tegmark really a minority of one, as he claims?

Thanks!

If you care to have this inherently atheistic, Feynman approach where we are Nature's slaves lucky to even understand simple harmonic motion, then I'm not surprised you'd have this shut-up-and-calculate mentality. The fact of the matter is, we have come a long way from ancient times in that we have produced meaningful findings about, say, other dimensions (that we can neither directly experience or relate to), yet which we still can put some type of quantitative leash around. So, are we just speck of stardust waiting for Nature to spare us answers? Not exactly. Now, back to my original point, I, for one, believe that there is importance in the deeper meaning behind statements about cause and effect (whether about physics, or any other subject for that matter) that are deeply connected with Godel's work.

So, if you ask me, the shut-up-and-think alternative is much more meaningful.

[Evo]

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