Systems Thinker Exploring Foundations of Physics

[Sam Six]

How did you find PF?

On the website "preposterousunivers.com, in the section "Contact".
https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/contact/

Hello everyone,

My name is Sam. I work as a management consultant in Germany, with a background in systems thinking and complex organizational transformations.
Physics has been a long-standing personal passion of mine, especially questions about foundations: spacetime, emergence, ontology, and how different physical theories relate to one another.

I’m not a physicist by training, so I’m here primarily to learn, to read discussions among people who really understand the formal side, and to gradually ask a few conceptual questions of my own once I have a better sense of the forum dynamics.

My interest is mainly in the interface between:

• fundamental ontology and physics,
• emergent spacetime ideas,
• conceptual issues around the Big Bang and singularities,
• and how different modern frameworks (QM, GR, QFT, holography, etc.) might fit together.

I value clear reasoning, respectful discussion, and staying well within the forum rules — especially regarding speculative ideas. I’m here to listen first and contribute only when appropriate.

Looking forward to learning from you all.
Best,
Sam

 

[PeroK]

Generally, it's very difficult to follow developments in theoretical physics without being able to solve at least advanced undergraduate problems. Although, we may have one or two members who can do this.

For much of modern theoretical physics, intuition and understanding of the physics comes from an understanding of the mathematics involved. Studying mathematics (pure or applied) retrains your intuition and radically changes how you can understand things.

To go beyond what you can pick up from popular science sources, you really need to tackle physics as an academic subject. And engage in active learning (i.e. solving problems for yourself), rather than passive learning (just reading about solutions).

The analogy I would draw is that to really understand chess games between grandmasters, you need to be a serious player.

 

[Sam Six]

Thank you, that’s very helpful and completely fair.
Coming from a systems-thinking background, I’m very aware that real understanding only comes from actively engaging with a domain, not just reading about it. In my own work that means building and testing models, so I appreciate the parallel with developing intuition through the mathematics in physics.

I’m here primarily to listen, understand how the formal structures guide the intuition, and, when appropriate, ask conceptual questions that stay strictly within established frameworks rather than drifting into speculation.

Thanks again for the clear orientation. It helps me get a feel for how to participate constructively here.
And who knows, maybe at some point I’ll ask a question that twists my own noodle even more than the mathematics already does.

 

[martinbn]

it seems that you are interested in the philosophy of science not the science itself.

 

[Sam Six]

That’s a fair observation. My background is indeed more on the conceptual and philosophy-of-science side, particularly questions about foundations, ontology, and how different frameworks relate.
I’m not trying to do physics here, and I’m very aware of the boundary between scientific content and philosophical reflection. My goal is simply to understand how physicists think about these issues from within the established formalism.
So yes, you could say my interest sits at the science/philosophy interface, but with full respect for the physics side and its mathematical structure.

 

[renormalize]

So yes, you could say my interest sits at the science/philosophy interface, but with full respect for the physics side and its mathematical structure.

Just keep in mind the PF site rule (https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/physics-forums-global-guidelines.414380/):

• Philosophical discussions are permitted only at the discretion of the mentors and may be deleted or closed without warning or appeal