Uncovering the Mysteries of Object Interaction

  • Context: Undergrad 
  • Thread starter Thread starter gerbilmore
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the nature of object interactions in physics, specifically questioning why objects can interact and whether this implies some form of 'awareness' between them. The scope includes conceptual exploration and philosophical implications of physical interactions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions the fundamental nature of interactions, suggesting that there may be an underlying 'awareness' required for objects to interact.
  • Another participant asserts that interactions are treated as experimental facts in physics, emphasizing the importance of measurable quantities in theoretical treatments.
  • A further contribution proposes that all energy and matter might possess an inherent 'ability to interact,' likening this to the acceptance of gravity as a fact without fully understanding its origins.
  • Some participants acknowledge that while certain 'why' questions can be addressed, not all can be satisfactorily answered.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the nature of interactions, with some agreeing on the acceptance of interactions as facts while others explore the philosophical implications of 'awareness' in these interactions. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the deeper reasons behind object interactions.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights limitations in understanding the fundamental reasons for interactions, as well as the reliance on experimental facts and measurable quantities in physics. There are unresolved philosophical questions regarding the nature of awareness in interactions.

gerbilmore
Messages
31
Reaction score
1
Hi,

This has been bugging me for a while now.

WHY do objects interact? Suppose I kick a football with my foot. Obviously physics can explain how the ball interacts with the foot and then flies off through the air, but something appears to be missing.

Do we take it for granted that one object can 'experience' another? It seems to me as though there is some kind of 'awareness' there for want of a better term.

An interaction can only occur between two or more separate things right? This separation surely requires one object to be somehow 'aware' of another object for an interaction to take place.

Can someone please offer some thoughts? Thanks :-)
 
Physics news on Phys.org
We take it for granted or as an experimental fact. You cannot do without experimental facts. There are theoretical treatments that carry out "bookkeeping" in interactions but any good theory is phenomenological: it is based on experimental facts. In particular, theories use measurable quantities in their bookkeeping.
 
Thanks. So would it be fair to suggest that all energy/matter – indeed every quanta of energy – possesses some kind of 'ability to interact' that is taken as fact in physics, albeit for unexplained reasons - in much the same way as we take gravity as fact, but don't really know why it exists?
 
Yes, that's right. Some "why" question can be answered, but not all.
 
Thanks. Now I understand! :-)
 

Similar threads

High School Questions about momentum and force as well as normal force/friction
  • · Replies 35 ·
2
Replies
35
Views
6K
High School Unraveling the Mystery: Interactions and Properties of Quantum Objects
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
Undergrad Work Done/Energy Transferred in One Dimensional Collision
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
Undergrad Relationship between Drag Force & Viscous Torque on USA Football
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
Undergrad What is the true nature of microscopic particles when not interacting?
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
3K
Graduate Bernoulli, lift and cause & effect
  • · Replies 30 ·
2
Replies
30
Views
5K
Undergrad Statistical physics in 2D world: How to simulate gas and its interaction with objects? (game design)
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
Undergrad Entanglement might be the result of an underlying law?
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
Undergrad Collapse of particle wave function and single Universe wave function?
  • · Replies 43 ·
2
Replies
43
Views
6K
High School Trying to understand what "time" is (layperson)
  • · Replies 21 ·
Replies
21
Views
3K