Can Everything be Reduced to Pure Physics?

[Pensador]

The Job of Metaphysics is to categorise things into fundamental types for every intellectual discipline so that they can be easily explained. But unfortunately, this process is currently not working well, partly because people do not even understand what metaphysics is, let alone know what the fundamental metaphysical categories are.

It appears to me metaphysics was given a bad name because of its close relationship with mysticism. The problem is, there is no other way. It seems to me the modern denial of metaphysics comes out of fear of supporting a less materialistic worldview, rather than any intellectual reason per se. That is, we swung from dogmatic religion to dogmatic materialism, apparently as a result of social forces rather than scientific progress.

Even physicists themselves do not even know that Metaphysics is also a tool for them too. Every time someone mentions it, the first thing that they cast their minds to is religion or philosophy. This problem dates back to Galileo in the 17th Century who, for example, dumped the so-called 'Secondary Qualities' for the scientifically convenient 'Primary Qaulities'.

It's quite interesting to notice how physics is chock-full of metaphysics even as physicist deny it, simply because they arbitrarily chose which metaphysics concepts they are comfortable with, and discarded the rest.

The point is that you cannot pick and choose fundamental metaphysical catories of the world. Well, they may be metaphysically vexing and epistemologically hitting us in the face, yet this is no license for us to escape them.

Relating to your post on the other thread, I think it's just the (pseudo) formalists who do that. As, in my understanding, you pointed out, NL implies a certain view of the world which is far less problematic than those formalistic theories, and that view includes all those metaphysical entities missing in physics.

We need to find a way of accommodating all of them in our explanatory projects. This is the very problem that physics is facing with the explantions of such categories as 'Nothing', 'Infinity', 'Finiteness', 'Something', etc.

Surely, but how do you think those could be incorporated within the formalism of physics? Isn't formalism the whole problem to start with?

The problem, as I see it, is the notion that an explanation restricted to logic and mathematics can account for the whole of NL (as Doctordick seems to be proposing), even as, from an NL perspective, it can't since logic and math is but a subset of it. And of course from a formalist perspective, the formalist perspective itself cannot be justified other than by force. We sure live in dictatorial times.

 

[moving finger]

How true is the claim that everything in the whole universe can be explained by Physics and Physics alone? How realistic is this claim? Does our ability to mathematically describe physical things in spacetime give us sufficient grounds to admit or hold this claim? Or is there more to physical reality than a mere ability to matheamtically describe things?

As long as physics remains a 3rd person objective science (ie a science where there is an "observer" and an "observed"), which it has been up to now, then I believe the answer is clearly "no".

"Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And it is because in the last analysis we ourselves are part of the mystery we are trying to solve." Max Planck

If we can find some way of opening up physics so that it is not always constrained to an assumption of 3rd person objectivity, then we may have a better chance of explaining everything with physics.

MF

 

[Doctordick]

"Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And it is because in the last analysis we ourselves are part of the mystery we are trying to solve." Max Planck

If we can find some way of opening up physics so that it is not always constrained to an assumption of 3rd person objectivity, then we may have a better chance of explaining everything with physics.

Think about those two comments for a moment. In my opinion they certainly make the assumption that our solution can not include "us". Objective inclusion of the observer in the analysis clearly solves the difficulty. It follows, "as the night the day" , that the real problem is the assumption that we, the problem solvers, are not part of the problem to be solved: i.e., the assumption the thinker "knows what is being talked about. A fundamental assumption that is being made in every post on this forum (except mine).

There exists a way around that problem and I have been to the other side of the mountain. And any of you could go look too; if you would take the trouble to follow my thoughts. I had hoped saviormachine had the wherewithal to stick the issue through but he has apparently dropped out. I am looking forward to rudimentary interest in thinking things out logically. :zzz:

Have fun -- Dick

 

[moving finger]

A fundamental assumption that is being made in every post on this forum (except mine).

not in the least bit arrogant, are we?

I am looking forward to rudimentary interest in thinking things out logically. :zzz:

the "zzzzzzz" at the end suggests your comment that you are looking forward to interest may be less than genuine

MF

 

[Doctordick]

Ignorance is bliss!

not in the least bit arrogant, are we?

arrogant: adj. [ME.; OFr.; L. arrogans, ppr of arrogare; see ARROGATE], full of or due to unwarranted pride and self-importance; overbearing; haughty.-- see SYN proud.

arrogate: v.t. [< arrogatus, ppr of arrogare, to claim < ad- to, for, + rogare, to ask], 1. to claim or seize without right; appropriate (to oneself) arrogantly. 2. to ascribe or attribute without reason.

I believe what you are putting forth is called an "adhominem" (latin for "to the man") argument. Thus it is invalid on the face of it. Secondly, I claim what I claim with very good reason and you would be well aware of that had you seriously read much of what I have said.

the "zzzzzzz" at the end suggests your comment that you are looking forward to interest may be less than genuine

No, I would rather suggest it represents my expectations of a rational response: I am not going to lose any sleep waiting for one.

There does exist a quite simple way around the difficulty of including ourselves in the problem; but, apparently everyone here prefers to stew in the stalemate! I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I have always been told that ignorance is bliss.

Have fun -- Dick

 

[Canute]

To Canute on the notion of "understanding" reality. Yes, I would agree that my position is quite odd as I am aware of no one else who holds that position; however, IMHO this is strong evidence that they have not thought the issue through.

Maybe, but there is another possibility.

It has come to be that we have all sqought (squat??) up these related concepts "real", "understanding" and "explaining". Clearly, as almost everyone sees these terms as very meaningful, they can be held up as very probably useful. It behooves us to make a serious effort to cleanse these concepts of implied relationships which can not be proved. Once we have done that, they become reasonable foundations for logical deduction. Now you are complaining about my statement that understanding reality does not require knowing what is and what is not real and you are quite right, the solution of the conundrum lies in the definition of understanding.

True. It also depends on the definition of every other word you've used. So what is your defintion of understanding?

It should be clear to you that thinking something is real is not equivalent to it being real. And secondly an explanation explains what one thinks they know not necessarily what is actually true.

That seems true.

Ever notice how the idea of "truth" is avoided? Truth bears the same relationship with knowing as reality bears to your world view. One can no more prove they know the truth than they can prove their ontology is correct. But to conclude that requires there be no truth or no reality (the solipsist position) is also a rather undefendable position. The only defendable position is that we do not know anything for sure. If you make "knowing what is real" a prerequisite to explaining reality you will never be able to explain any aspect of reality.

There is a profound difference between understanding reality and explaining it. Explanations require the use of formal systems of symbols and rules. Thus to explain something one must symbolise it, and ones explanation is limited in its reach by the incompleteness theorems and so on. But to understand something does not necessarily require the use of symbols and rules. This is an issue that lies at the heart of the difference between scientific/philosophical approaches to knowledge and experiential/mystical approaches. It is perfectly possible to understand something that one cannot explain.

I agree that it is not possible to prove (demonstrate) that one knows something. But that has no bearing on whether it is possible to know it.

The view that the phenomenal universe (the universe of corporeal and mental phenomena) is (strictly speaking) not real, does not necessarily imply solipsism. It also implies Buddhism, Sufism, Taoism, Theosophy, Advaita and all equivalent cosmological doctrines.

So I define an explanation as a defined method of yielding expectations of events not yet experienced based on information presently available to us. Notice that the definition does not require the information be correct nor does it say those expectations are valid. This is entirely consistent with the common use of the terms explain and understand. How do you come to the conclusion that you understand something? Does that decision not arise when the thing no longer surprises you?

Yes, that is one test. But I know precisely and exactly, can understand and explain, why prime numbers occur where and when they do, yet I have no way of predicting exactly where they will occur.

On the other hand, if you are explaining something to someone else, how do you determine that they understand your explanation? Is that result not achieved by asking questions? When their answers are in alignment with the answers you would give to the same questions, do you not come to the conclusion that they understand what you are talking about? I think all of this is very strong evidence that the best definition of an explanation is that it is a mechanism for producing expectations. And understanding is achieved when surprise no longer occurs. We can talk about "good" explanations once we agree as to what qualifies as an explanation.

I see roughly what you mean, but find it a strange way of defining an explanation.

If you disagree, give me a better definition of explanation and/or understanding.

If an explanation is a mechanism for producing expectations then a good explanation is one that produces correct expectations. This is ok by me as far as it goes, but it does not seem to go very far. All it says is that a good explanation is one that is in accord with what is the case. This seems a rather empty definition. On both explanation and understanding I'm happy to stick with what the dictionary gives as their meaning. Of course those definitions are woolly, but I don't think we should start changing the meaning of long used terms. If they are the wrong terms in some context it would be better to use different ones.

In this context, on the question of the ability of physics to explain everything, this seems a useful comment, and more in line with how I view explanations :

"What other properties should the physicalist’s relation of determinational dependence have? According to Kim, the relation involves not only ontological directionality but explanatory. "That upon which something depends is … explanatorily prior to … that which depends on it." The lower-level or base property on which the higher-level depends is explanatorily prior because a thing’s "having the relevant base property explains why it has the [higher level] property." It is because, or in virtue of the fact that, the thing has the base property that it has the higher level, supervenient property. Thus if properties of kind B determine those of kind A, then a thing’s having certain B-properties is that in virtue of which, is the sense of explaining why, it has certain A-properties."

L.C.Pereira and M. Wrigley
‘Is Supervenience Asymetric’

This says, rightly in my view, that when we explain things we do so by reference to things other than what it is we are explaining. When we are trying to explain everything we cannot do this, so cannot explain everything (except self-referentially or tautologically). However this has no bearing on what can or cannot be understood or known, since to understand or know something it is not necessary to be able to express an explanation of it.

 

[Doctordick]

Hi again Canute,
Going by the time stamp on your posts, your answer on the other thread preceded your post here so I answered it first. You might read that one first.

Maybe, but there is another possibility.

That may be but, if so, I am unaware of it. All I have to go on is the fact that they are still bothered by issues which in my paradigm are quite straight forward while all the issues they bring up to support their paradigm also support mine.

True. It also depends on the definition of every other word you've used. So what is your defintion of understanding?

If you understand it, you can explain it. (See how I subtly shifted that over to another word ; one I feel is considerably more important and one we should do our best to define exactly.) Note that the dictionary listing for "understanding" is quite long. This implies the common definition is more vague than the average. Secondly, since there is no easy way to prove anyone understands anything (it's pretty well a qualia isn't it ) there can't be much use for the term in an exact science, at least not at the moment. What I need to do in order to make my definition correct is to make sure that my definition of "explain" accommodates the vague implications of "understanding". As you say, if I don't do that then I should probably invent a new word and I really don't want to do that as my thoughts are abstract enough without it.

There is a profound difference between understanding reality and explaining it.

I wouldn't put it that way. I would agree that "there is a profound difference between feeling you understand reality[/color] and explaining it. As I said above, understanding is often taken to be a very personal feeling and, as such is not really something which can be nailed down in an exact manner. However, in usage, it is very commonly used to express the idea that one can explain something and that issue is much easier to test. So I will leave "understanding" as a (currently anyway) vague term.

This is an issue that lies at the heart of the difference between scientific/philosophical approaches to knowledge and experiential/mystical approaches.

I don't think that is true. I think it is at the heart of the difference between exact language and common language, but the idea that exactness of expression forever blocks one from philosophical analysis is an unwarranted assumption.

It is perfectly possible to understand something that one cannot explain.

If you had said, "it is perfectly possible to feel one understands something that one cannot explain". I would have agreed with you directly; however, used alone, the word "understand" usually carries the connotation that the understanding is valid and we are deep into philosophical basics here and such connotations have to be questioned. Explanation, however, doesn't carry such strong connotations. In the common usage, we have all heard explanations which are far from valid (if you have ever had a child you have anyway ). And explanations are very easy to examine; as you said they are communicable things.

I agree that it is not possible to prove (demonstrate) that one knows something. But that has no bearing on whether it is possible to know it.

You are exactly correct and that is the very issue I hold to be central to an exact analysis of reality (or any isolated component of reality).

The view that the phenomenal universe (the universe of corporeal and mental phenomena) is (strictly speaking) not real, does not necessarily imply solipsism. It also implies Buddhism, Sufism, Taoism, Theosophy, Advaita and all equivalent cosmological doctrines.

I think you are wrong there but I don't want to argue the issue as I know little of those doctrines. If they do hold that everything is a figment of your imagination then they are solipsistic doctrines. However, I think, for the most part, they are religions in that they hold things which they cannot prove are true. That is, in fact, the realist's position and the exact reason why academies tend towards becoming religions.

Yes, that is one test. But I know precisely and exactly, can understand and explain, why prime numbers occur where and when they do, yet I have no way of predicting exactly where they will occur.

And tell me, does that surprise you? If not, then that fulfills exactly my definition of an explanation. You are confusing something which predicts your expectation (which are in fact, "you have no way of predicting exactly where they will occur") with the act of predicting where they will occur. I never said anything about what your expectations were. What I said was, "I define an explanation as a defined method of yielding expectations of events not yet experienced based on information presently available to us."

I see roughly what you mean, but find it a strange way of defining an explanation.

If it is not exactly[/color] what you mean by an explanation, either give me an example of something you regard to be an explanation which does not fit the definition or give me an example of something which fits my definition which cannot be regarded as an explanation. I think that exhausts the possibilities doesn't it? The dictionary definitions are not "wrong"; they are simply inexact (or woolly as you say). If I am going to "explain" the universe, I just better have an exact idea of what my goal is.

This seems a rather empty definition.

And empty is good. Without making any assertions, I have a clear exact definition of what I am going to do. Having that, I can lay out a detailed procedure for reaching that goal without fear that I have made an unwarranted assumption. Without it, I am just stirring the pot of vague representations cast up to me by my subconscious mind hoping something of use might float to the top.

On both explanation and understanding I'm happy to stick with what the dictionary gives as their meaning.

I see utterly no difference between my definition and the dictionary.[/color] The only difference is that their's is vague and "wooly" and mine is exact. If this isn't the case, you need to give one of those examples sited above.

In this context, on the question of the ability of physics to explain everything, this seems a useful comment, and more in line with how I view explanations :

"What other properties should the physicalist’s relation of determinational dependence have? According to Kim, the relation involves not only ontological directionality but explanatory. "That upon which something depends is … explanatorily prior to … that which depends on it." The lower-level or base property on which the higher-level depends is explanatorily prior because a thing’s "having the relevant base property explains why it has the [higher level] property." It is because, or in virtue of the fact that, the thing has the base property that it has the higher level, supervenient property. Thus if properties of kind B determine those of kind A, then a thing’s having certain B-properties is that in virtue of which, is the sense of explaining why, it has certain A-properties."

L.C.Pereira and M. Wrigley
‘Is Supervenience Asymetric’

Talk about woolly? It certainly isn't empty. My problem with it is that it is so complex that it might very well contain internal relationships which have not yet been proved valid. But more important than that, can you prove that every possible explanation of reality is included under that definition: i.e, is the correct explanation included? What if Budda were correct, is his position included there or are you presuming he was wrong? I am afraid that I can come up with a lot of explanations which don't fit under that definition at all – it utterly fails the dictionary test! And as a final comment, it is clearly included in my definition. So why do you feel so strongly that my definition not be used?

This says, rightly in my view, that when we explain things we do so by reference to things other than what it is we are explaining. When we are trying to explain everything we cannot do this, so cannot explain everything (except self-referentially or tautologically).

Then, by your own admission, an explanation constrained to your definition cannot explain the universe as nothing is outside. This certainly implies the correct explanation of reality is not included there.

However this has no bearing on what can or cannot be understood or known, since to understand or know something it is not necessary to be able to express an explanation of it.

I would say very simply, if you feel you understand something which you cannot explain, it is certainly of no significance to me, my children, your children or anyone else for that matter. Why should I take any interest in it at all. If you want the feeling that you understand the universe, there are a great number of methods of achieving that goal; none of which are worth much to the rest of us.

Have fun -- Dick

 

[Canute]

Hi again Canute,
That may be but, if so, I am unaware of it.

I should have been more clear. The "other possibility" is that you might be wrong.

If you understand it, you can explain it.

Again you state this this with no supporting argument.

Secondly, since there is no easy way to prove anyone understands anything (it's pretty well a qualia isn't it ) there can't be much use for the term in an exact science, at least not at the moment.

Here you have it. Understanding is qualia. This is why/how one can know a thing without necessarily being able to explain it.

I wouldn't put it that way. I would agree that "there is a profound difference between feeling you understand reality[/color] and explaining it. As I said above, understanding is often taken to be a very personal feeling and, as such is not really something which can be nailed down in an exact manner. However, in usage, it is very commonly used to express the idea that one can explain something and that issue is much easier to test. So I will leave "understanding" as a (currently anyway) vague term.

Fine. Understanding is certainly a vague term (as are so many terms that relate to consciousness). But you have argued for a strong link between understanding and explanation so must have a particular meaning in mind. Personally I feel that you're right when you suggest that understanding is a personal feeling that cannot be nailed down in an exact manner. However, this is not true of explanations.

I don't think that is true. I think it is at the heart of the difference between exact language and common language, but the idea that exactness of expression forever blocks one from philosophical analysis is an unwarranted assumption.

I'll stick by what I wrote. (I'm not sure what exactness of language has got to do with anything here, and a common language is not necessarily a different thing to an exact language).

If you had said, "it is perfectly possible to feel one understands something that one cannot explain". I would have agreed with you directly; however, used alone, the word "understand" usually carries the connotation that the understanding is valid and we are deep into philosophical basics here and such connotations have to be questioned.

The word 'feel' is superfluous. If you start down that road then you get into the endless regression of "feel I know I feel I know I know I feel ...", the equivalent of Goedel's regression of meta-systems. The truth is that we have no idea how we know things. This is related to the topic here because it is another aspect of the fact that we have no idea how we know what anything means. 'Knowing' is something to do with consciousness, and is therefore part of the 'problem of consciousness'.

To put this another way, in order to know what a word (or anything else) means, (or know that it has a meaning) we must be able to know. The only entities that can know anything are sentient beings. Thus sentience/consciousness/phenomenality seems a prerequisite for meaning.

It seems to me that you are muddling the concepts of knowledge, understanding and explanation. Although these things relate to each other in all sorts of interesting ways as words they have quite different meaning.

I think you are wrong there but I don't want to argue the issue as I know little of those doctrines. If they do hold that everything is a figment of your imagination then they are solipsistic doctrines. However, I think, for the most part, they are religions in that they hold things which they cannot prove are true.

Yes, they are solipsistic in a way, but not in a way that would make it correct to say that solipsism is what they are. And yes, of course practitioners of these disciplines hold things which they cannot prove are true. We all do. This is because it is possible to know things that one cannot prove to be true. Cogito ergo sum, for instance.

... Without making any assertions, I have a clear exact definition of what I am going to do. Having that, I can lay out a detailed procedure for reaching that goal without fear that I have made an unwarranted assumption. Without it, I am just stirring the pot of vague representations cast up to me by my subconscious mind hoping something of use might float to the top.

I can't follow that one. However one defines 'explanation' it is possible to make unwarranted assumptions.

Talk about woolly? It certainly isn't empty. My problem with it is that it is so complex that it might very well contain internal relationships which have not yet been proved valid. But more important than that, can you prove that every possible explanation of reality is included under that definition: i.e, is the correct explanation included? What if Budda were correct, is his position included there or are you presuming he was wrong? I am afraid that I can come up with a lot of explanations which don't fit under that definition at all – it utterly fails the dictionary test! And as a final comment, it is clearly included in my definition. So why do you feel so strongly that my definition not be used?

As I said, I feel your definition is ok as far as it goes. I'll go along with any definition you like for the purposes of this discussion. (As a point of interest the Buddhist etc. view is that there cannot be a complete and consistent explanation of reality, that it can only be understood first-hand).

Then, by your own admission, an explanation constrained to your definition cannot explain the universe as nothing is outside. This certainly implies the correct explanation of reality is not included there.

I said that I was happy with the dictionary definition, so don't know what leads you to talk about 'my' definition. The dictionary definition of the term 'explanation' covers all instances of explanations, it's defined as covering them all.

I would say very simply, if you feel you understand something which you cannot explain, it is certainly of no significance to me, my children, your children or anyone else for that matter. Why should I take any interest in it at all.

Whether you take an interest is entirely up to you, and not a relevant issue. I'm saying that we can know things that we cannot explain, not that you have to take an interest in what I know that I can't explain. To take a simple case, you know what 'red' looks like. Perhaps it would be right to say that you understand what red looks like. But you cannot explain what it looks like.

If you want the feeling that you understand the universe, there are a great number of methods of achieving that goal; none of which are worth much to the rest of us.

Methods of understanding the universe are of no use to you? I don't think you meant to say that. They are worth a great deal to you, but only if it is you who is applying the method and doing the understanding. Of course it goes without saying that I cannot do the understanding for you, or you for me. As you say, understanding is a quale.

 

[Doctordick]

I should have been more clear. The "other possibility" is that you might be wrong.

I am sincerely bothered by the fact that you thought I was unaware of that possibility. It leaves me strongly questioning your intentions.

Again you state this this with no supporting argument.

You didn't ask me for support; you asked me for my definition of "understanding". And I went on to explain that I held the word as rather vague and (at the moment) unimportant. I can conceive of little reason for you to be concerned about support for an issue I make clear I have no real intention of depending on. Again it leaves me strongly questioning your intentions.

This is why/how one can know a thing without necessarily being able to explain it.

Back to more dogmatic statements about what you are confident you know. I am sorry but if you are so sure about these things, I don't think you are open to rational thought.

But you have argued for a strong link between understanding and explanation so must have a particular meaning in mind.

I had just given you exactly what meaning I had in mind for understanding and I certainly did not make any argument for a strong link between understanding and explanation. I made it very clear that I regarded "understanding" to be a vague and uncommunicable term not worth using in an exact analysis. I can not understand your desire to waste our time on such trivial issues.

I'm not sure what exactness of language has got to do with anything here, and a common language is not necessarily a different thing to an exact language.

If you believe the common language can be held as "exact" then you just haven't thought about the issue or don't understand the meaning of the term "exact" commonly held by the scientific community. And it has everything to do with this thread if this thread is concerned with the issue "Can Everything be Reduced to Pure Physics?"

The word 'feel' is superfluous.

If it's superfluous than there is no difference between what you know to be true and what you think is true. I thought the Pope was the only infallible person around. ;rofl: You certainly make it clear you don't want to discuss the issue of your own fallibility. Yeah, you could be wrong, but certainly not about that.

If you start down that road then you get into the endless regression of "feel I know I feel I know I know I feel ...", the equivalent of Goedel's regression of meta-systems.

I don't! You only stick that excuse out there because you don't want to talk about the possibility that your beliefs are wrong. It's an intellectually dishonest position.

The truth is that we have no idea how we know things.

Well, I am glad you admit there is something you don't know.

'Knowing' is something to do with consciousness, and is therefore part of the 'problem of consciousness'.

but jump right back in with a dogmatic assertion. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't; I personally am going to leave the issue open. Go argue with someone else if your beliefs are that important to you.

Thus sentience/consciousness/phenomenality seems a prerequisite for meaning.

I note the use of the word "seems" there! I have no interest in what "seems" to be true! What I am interested in is what "has" to be true.

It seems to me that you are muddling the concepts of knowledge, understanding and explanation.

Now how can I be muddling these concepts when I want to avoid them entirely. To this point, I have put forth only a small number of definitions I would like to work with rationally . I have been attacking the seemingly impossible task of getting you to understand what I mean by these few terms. The first is the difference between what we really know and what we only think we know (categories which I have labeled "knowable" and "unknowable") and second is my abstract definition of an "explanation" (given several times directly above in this thread). You are apparently convinced that the first two are absolutely unnecessary abstractions and that the second does not agree with what you feel an explanation is. Sorry, if that's the end of the road, it's the end of the road; but it is a rather dogmatic method for ending the discussion.

I can't follow that one. However one defines 'explanation' it is possible to make unwarranted assumptions.

I was referring to unwarranted assumptions embedded in the definition itself. How can you complain about a definition being "empty" and having the quality of "making unwarranted assumptions" simultaneously. If anyone here is trying to muddy the waters, I think it is you.

As I said, I feel your definition is ok as far as it goes.

Well if it doesn't go far enough, please give me an example of a explanation which is not included: i.e., either not based on what is known or does not yield any expectations. Or give me something which fits my definition which can not be seen as an explanation. My arguments would be defeated right there and I would go quietly away, bowing to your superior intellect.

I said that I was happy with the dictionary definition, so don't know what leads you to talk about 'my' definition.

Then what was that Pereira and Wrigley thing all about and why was it there?

Whether you take an interest is entirely up to you, and not a relevant issue. I'm saying that we can know things that we cannot explain, not that you have to take an interest in what I know that I can't explain.

I don't think you payed any attention to what I said, "I would say very simply, if you feel you understand something which you cannot explain, it is certainly of no significance to me, my children, your children or anyone else for that matter". The issue is, if you can't communicate it, you can't communicate it![/color] How can you worry about communicating something which cannot be communicated? The issue is a complete non issue. I suspect the fact is that you "feel" there are aspects of it which can be communicated and that is what you are trying to talk about: i.e., you are stirring that pot to see if something valuable floats up. :zzz:

Methods of understanding the universe are of no use to you?

No, I said I wasn't interested in acquiring the "feeling" that I understood the universe. I am much more interested in being able to explain the universe. If you are not interested in being able to explain the universe then you cannot possibly have any interest in listening to what I have to say. I hope you at least have an inkling of what I am trying to get across to you.

Have fun -- Dick

 

[George Prokos]

The study of history has shown that it was not so much man's logic that was in error but his limited grasp of the width, breadth, and sheer complexity of reality.A mathimatical formula can no longer encompass the full measure of reality than I.B.M.'s Balance Sheet can tell you everything there is to know about I.B.M. Formulas are a language, symbolism, they are not the actual thing in itself. The map is not the territory.I trust that some day we will see far clearer and we will have far better ways of classifing, categorizing, and integrating reality both experientially and cognitively. Until then let us strive not to show too much of our ignorance by trying to fit everything into one grand theory or formula and take a leap from doubt to dogmatic certitude.Besides all of this, I don't think man has evolved enough to contain ,percieve, and process the vastness of information inherent in the Universe.

 

[Canute]

I hope you at least have an inkling of what I am trying to get across to you.

I have no idea at all what you are trying to get across. I was trying to find out. No matter. As you likewise have no idea what I'm trying to get across let's call it quits.

 

[saviourmachine]

There exists a way around that problem and I have been to the other side of the mountain. And any of you could go look too; if you would take the trouble to follow my thoughts. I had hoped saviormachine had the wherewithal to stick the issue through but he has apparently dropped out. I am looking forward to rudimentary interest in thinking things out logically.

Sorry DoctorDick, it's difficult at the moment to find time for this topic. I'm busy with my master thesis, my girl-friend, deconversion from xianity, 'praeses' of a student society, and work as student assistent to make the money I need. I hope I can return to you some months later. The matter does interest me much.

 

[Tournesol]

I don't think you payed any attention to what I said, "I would say very simply, if you feel you understand something which you cannot explain, it is certainly of no significance to me, my children, your children or anyone else for that matter". The issue is, if you can't communicate it, you can't communicate it![/color] How can you worry about communicating something which cannot be communicated?

By commuicating the fact that you cannot communicate it.

 

[moving finger]

arrogant: adj. [ME.; OFr.; L. arrogans, ppr of arrogare; see ARROGATE], full of or due to unwarranted pride and self-importance; overbearing; haughty.-- see SYN proud.

yep, as I said. Take an open-minded look at the content of your posts. And no need to be grumpy.

I believe what you are putting forth is called an "adhominem" (latin for "to the man") argument. Thus it is invalid on the face of it.

Nope, it's an observation, and very pertinent.

Secondly, I claim what I claim with very good reason and you would be well aware of that had you seriously read much of what I have said.

Most arrogant people do feel that way. Strange isn't it?

No, I would rather suggest it represents my expectations of a rational response: I am not going to lose any sleep waiting for one.

That's good, because I didn't lose any sleep composing one (see below).

There does exist a quite simple way around the difficulty of including ourselves in the problem; but, apparently everyone here prefers to stew in the stalemate! I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I have always been told that ignorance is bliss.

And this is the kind of "rational comment" that you think is deserving of a rational response? Give me a break.
MF

 

[Doctordick]

If none of you can comprehend that you could be wrong about something and not know it, then you are beyond my intellectual reach.

Enjoy your games – Dick

 

[Doctordick]

I don't think man has evolved enough to contain ,percieve, and process the vastness of information inherent in the Universe.

And you think that is a good reason for not thinking about the problem?

Well have a ball not thinking about it -- Dick

 

[Canute]

If none of you can comprehend that you could be wrong about something and not know it, then you are beyond my intellectual reach.

Enjoy your games – Dick

Please explain what you mean. Who has said that it is possible to "comprehend that you could be wrong about something and not know it". I'm not even sure what the sentence might mean.

I'm sorry you feel that we are beyond your intellectual reach. It may be because you are so quick to attempt to patronise anyone who disagrees with you that don't give yourself time to understand what they are saying.

 

[Aurino]

I'm sorry you feel that we are beyond your intellectual reach. It may be because you are so quick to attempt to patronise anyone who disagrees with you that don't give yourself time to understand what they are saying.

Canute,

I've known this Doctordick for years and I can tell you he's not trying to patronize anyone; it's actually much worse than that.

What I gathered, after exchaning countless forum posts and about 100 emails with him, is that he has some sort of cognitive impairment. This causes him a great deal of frustration, yet the same impairment that makes it impossible for anyone to understand what he's talking about, also prevents him from understanding a single word anyone else says.

It's useless to scream at deaf people, and it's silly to blame them for not being able to hear. God knows why some people are born that way, but then there's nothing we can do about it, other than hope one day they'll clearly see what is second-nature to most people.

In his case, he appears to be able to communicate, for he writes a lot, but on a closer look it becomes obvious that he cannot say much that is intelligible, other than insults, and cannot understand most things he is told.

By the way, I don't post here but I like to follow some of the discussions. I find it really bad that Doctordick joined this forum, after being kicked out of the physics section, for he tends to dominate the debate. I hope my interference prevents this interesting forum from going the way other forums have gone, when he used to be a member of them.

(I also find it ironic that he seems to go wherever I go, or the other way around. I certainly don't look for him, yet I find him in the most unexpected places; must be a small world after all)

 

[Doctordick]

Please explain what you mean. Who has said that it is possible to "comprehend that you could be wrong about something and not know it". I'm not even sure what the sentence might mean.

I'm sorry you feel that we are beyond your intellectual reach. It may be because you are so quick to attempt to patronise anyone who disagrees with you that don't give yourself time to understand what they are saying.

That is exactly the issue I have been trying to communicate: "it is possible to be wrong about something and not know it". I do not know what part of that sentence you do not understand. I am at a total loss as to how to make it any clearer.

I think it is a serious issue, not to be ignored -- Dick

 

[medium]

On considering whether "everything can be reduced to pure physics", I have a question. Question: What if I had the power to create something from nothing. Well first there would be nothing, but say in further considering my options, I decided to use what was available to me in the physical world. So then what I would in essence be creating, is time and space. Seems to me though that this is what engineers do all the time. With the constant threat of deadlines and limited resources(smile). It occurs to me that if I were to believe in the question, it would be the one not yet asked. The one that would be worthy of making me stop and think. Does this make any sense?, Please comment>.....MEDIUM.......>

 

[moving finger]

On considering whether "everything can be reduced to pure physics", I have a question. Question: What if I had the power to create something from nothing.

Here is your problem :

You are assuming that the starting point is "nothing" and yet you still exist to create from nothing. Hence the starting point is not nothing. This problem underlies the common misconceptions of dualism and 3rd person objective science.

MF

 

[Canute]

That is exactly the issue I have been trying to communicate: "it is possible to be wrong about something and not know it". I do not know what part of that sentence you do not understand. I am at a total loss as to how to make it any clearer.

There is nothing wrong with this sentence, and it is quite obviously true. However it is not the same sentence as the one you originally posted.

 

[Canute]

Online somewhere is an essay by Stephen Hawking called "The End of Physics". In it Hawking argues that one consequence of the incompleteness theorem is that physics cannot be completed. That is, a complete and consistent description of the universe cannot be constructed by physicists (or indeed by anyone). Heisenberg argued the same, for related reasons (problems of self-reference). This is also the view of Buddhists and their like. It also seems true to me that any explanations of the universe must have at least one explanatory gap in it. If so then the question becomes one of whether this really is a gap or whether there is something in it. In other words, whether it is an epistemilogical or an ontological problem. In my view it is both.

Aurino - thanks. It takes all sorts, as they say.

 

[metacristi]

It is conceivable that 'gaps' will ever exist (though I'd argue that we do not have yet sufficient reasons to think that a TOE cannot be complete-irrespective whether we will ever be able to prove this). After all we do not even have the definitive answers to such simple, common sense at first sight, questions like 'what is matter?' (the 'quantum field' approach is only the best existing model so far, having a fallible epistemological privilege, provisionally accepted as scientific knowledge).

But the first task of scientific quest is not to prove that our best existing theories are complete, as Popper put it well a scientist does not need to answer all questions in order to make sense of the observed facts (see his famous example with the 'dune').

There is no need for that as much as the theories prove to be very coherent and very successful and do not lead to internal contradictions. We begin with some basic assumptions, provisionally accepted, and together with empirical observations and other principles we build a net of statements having a high coherence, the so called scientific knowledge. Thus if we ever could achieve the same degree of coherence (and stability on long term) in the neurological field as that in physics we could say that science is overall on a good road. Using a too high standard (as those who are always complaining of the existence of 'gaps' do) would be at least non rational.

Moreover if we will ever find a very successful TOE (physical theory) + a very successful, stable and broad, theory of mind I would argue that we are even rationally entitled to say, provisionally, that this 'compund' theory is approximatively true. There might be further 'gaps' no one deny this (for example it is unlikely that we could ever prove clearly that all biology 'reduces' to that physical TOE), yet we would need much more reasons to think that the existing scientific knoweldge is not at least approximativley true.

 

[Canute]

Yes I agree that we may as well continue to develop our theories. But those theories, and all current theories, inevitably have at least one gap in them. This is for reasons Hawking gives, but also because in the last analysis all scientific theories rest on metaphysical assumptions. It is impossible to do science without doing metaphysics. This is not a criticism of science, just an observation as to its limits. Precisely the same limit applies to theological theories which use God or a divine miracle to fill the gap, or to those that use the 'Tao', 'Emptiness', 'Allah' or whatever to fill the gap. Mathematically speaking every formal system of terms and theorems must contain at least one undefined term, for the same reason that every dictionary must contain at least one.

 

[loseyourname]

Could you find a link to either Hawking's or Heisenberg's argument on this point? Incompleteness theorem refers to formal systems. The axioms of the system cannot be proved from within the system and so the system is incomplete. In the case of physics, its axioms are the laws of physics (conservation of energy, E=mc^2, all that good stuff). These cannot be proven by the laws of physics, but they are proven by experiment. They are not really a formal system - they are a description of the way physical entities in the universe behave, confirmed through empirical investigation. They are not something to be 'proven' in any formal sense in the first place. It's hard to see how the incompleteness theorem could possibly apply here. Heck, it doesn't even apply to natural numbers or certain forms of geometry.

 

[Canute]

Sure. Here are a few quotes supporting my post. I can't find the specific Heisenberg comment but have posted a quote from Max Planck instead which expresses the same view.

I've posted a few extracts that seem relevant to the topic since I had to search out the Hawking's reference and passed these on the way to it. They should all relate to the points you raise above.

*"…since every word in a dictionary is defined in terms of another word… The only way to avoid circular reasoning in a finite language would be to include some undefined terms in the dictionary. Today we must realize that mathematical systems too, must include undefined terms, and seek to include the minimum number necessary for the system to make sense."

Leonard Mlodinow
‘Euclid’s Window’

"Up to now, most people have implicitly assumed that there is an ultimate theory, that we will eventually discover. Indeed, I myself have suggested we might find it quite soon. However, M-theory has made me wonder if this is true. Maybe it is not possible to formulate the theory of the universe in a finite number of statements. This is very reminiscent of Goedel's theorem. This says that any finite system of axioms is not sufficient to prove every result in mathematics.

Stephen Hawking
'Goedel and The End of Physics'
Online

"Gödel, after all, proved that mathematics itself has its limits. In his famous incompleteness theorem, he showed that no logical system can be used to prove its own consistency. To do so, one has to step out of the system, pop up a level, and study it from a higher vantage point… But proving the consistency of that system requires popping up another level, and so on, ad infinitum… there is no highest vanyage point, no ultimate abstraction."

George Johnson
'Fire in the Mind'

"…as I explained in the first lecture, the way we have to describe Nature is generally incomprehensible to us."

Richard Feynman
QED - The Strange Theory of Light and Matter

"I do not think I am prejudiced against the importance that science has from the purely human point of view. But with all that, I cannot believe (and this is my first objection) - I cannot believe that [for example] the deep philosophical enquiry into the relation between subject and object and into the true meaning of the distinction between them depends on the quantative results of physical and chemical measurements with weighing scales, spectroscopes, microscopes, telescopes, with Geiger-Müller-counters, Wilson-chambers, photographic plates, arrangements for measuring the radioactive decay, and whatnot. It is not very easy to say why I do not believe it. I feel a certain incongruity between the applied means and the problem to be solved."

Erwin Schrödinger
'Why Not Talk Physics'

"… It is sometimes urged that the basal stuff of the world should be called "neutral stuff" rather than "mind-stuff," since it is to be such that both mind and matter originate from it. If this is intended to emphasise that only limited islands of it constitute actual minds, and that even in these islands that which is known mentally is not equivalent to a complete inventory of all that may be there, I agree. In fact, I should suppose that the self-knowledge of consciousness is mainly or wholly a knowledge which eludes the inventory method of description. The term "mind-stuff" might well be amended, but neutral stuff seems to be the wrong kind of amendment. It implies that we have two avenues of approach to an understanding of its nature. We have only one approach, namely, through our direct knowledge of mind. The supposed approach through the physical world leads only into the cycle of physics, where we run round and round like a kitten chasing its tail and never reach the world-stuff at all.

Sir Arthur Eddington
In Ken Wilbur - Quantum Questions

"It is difficult to decide where science ends and mysticism begins. As soon as we begin to make even the most elementary theories we are open to the charge of indulging in metaphysics. Yet theories, however provisional, are the very lifeblood of scientific progress. We simply cannot escape metaphysics, though we can perhaps over-indulge, as well as have too little."

Banesh Hoffmann
'The Strange Story of the Quantum'

"The elements of consciousness are particular thoughts and feelings; th eelements of the brain cell are atoms and electrons. But the two analyses do not run parallel to one another. Whilst, therefore, I contemplate a spiritual domain underlying the physical world as a whole, I do not think of it as distributed so that to each element of time and space there is a corresponding portion of the spiritual background. My conclusion is that, although for the most part our enquiry into the problem of experience ends in a veil of symbols, there is an immediate knowledge in the minds of conscious beings which lifts the veil in places; what we discern through these openings is of mental and spiritual nature. Elsewhere we see no more than the veil."

Sir Arthur Eddington
'Beyond the Veil of Physics'

"Many would hold that, from the broad philosophical standpoint, the outstanding achievement of twentieth-century physics is not the theory of relativity with its welding together of space and time, or the theory of quanta with its present apparent negation of the laws of causation, or the dissection of the atom with the resultant discovery that things are not what they seem; it is the general recognition that we are not yet in contact with ultimate reality. We are still imprisoned in our cave, with our backs to the light, and can only watch the shadows on the wall."

Sir James Jeans
The Mysterious Universe

"The symbolic nature of physics is generally recognised, and the scheme of physics is now formulated in such a way as to make it almost self-evident that it is a partial aspect of something wider."

Sir Arthur Eddington
Science and the Unseen World

"Formal self-reference in Goedel’s theorems has various features in common with self-reference in minds and computers. The theorems do not imply that there can be no formal computational models of the mind, but on the contrary, suggest the existence of such models within a conception of mind as subject to similar limitations as formal systems."

Damjan Bojadziez
Mind versus Goedel
In ‘Mind Versus Computer’,

What is the relation between Gödels theorem and whether we can formulate the theory of the universe in terms of a finite number of principles? One connection is obvious. According to the positivist philosophy of science a physical theory is a mathematical model. So if there are mathematical results that can not be proved, there are physical problems that can not be predicted….

Stephen Hawking – Goedel and The End of Physics – net article (http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/strtst/dirac/hawking/ )

"Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery in nature. And it is because in the last analysis we ourselves are part of the mystery we try to solve."

Max Planck
?

"It is important to realize that what we know as the ‘scientific worldview’ is an image of the universe that rests on a host of daring metaphyical assumptions. (! -ed) These are often presented and seen as facts that have been proven beyond any reasonable doubt, while in reality they stand on very shaky ground, are controversial, or are inadequately supported by the evidence."

Stanislav Grof
The Cosmic Game

 

[metacristi]

It might be mentioned here that the necessity of an infinity of axioms does not imply that such a system is necesarily incomplete. As a matter of fact a student of Godel (Gentzen if I remember well) proved that for infinite systems (infinite number of axioms) it is possible to avoid incompleteness. Our incapacity to propose such a system, to list the axioms in other words, does not prove that we cannot tend toward it, or that it is incomplete. We can never reach it of course so in this sense we could say that our theories (limited parts of that infinite system) are incomplete yet there is no reason to say that there is impossible to exist a (complete) infinite system describing Reality. But currently, in my view of course, there is no good reason to think that the universe is infinite and moreover that we need an infinity of axioms/postulates/laws to describe it. The problem, in my view, is still wide open, our incapacity to prove that a complete system is possible and to find it does not amount to say that such a system in an impossibility, the problem of consciousness included ('complete' imply here also the approximative truth of the system; otherwise if there exist false predictions the system cannot be complete, some axioms are false and have to be changed). Even for infinite systems.

 

[moving finger]

Sure. Here are a few quotes supporting my post. I can't find the specific Heisenberg comment but have posted a quote from Max Planck instead which expresses the same view.

a couple more that I like :
Do not keep saying to yourself “But how can it be like that?” because you will go down the drain into a blind alley from which nobody has yet escaped
Feynman

Man is not born to solve the problems of the universe, but to find out where the problems begin, and then to take his stand within the limits of the intelligible
Goethe

The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written these books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books---a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects.
Einstein

It’s up to us to make sense of Nature; it’s not Nature’s obligation to behave as we would like.
David Lindley/Where Does the Weirdness Go?

MF

 

[Doctordick]

If none of you can comprehend that you could be wrong about something and not know it[/color], then you are beyond my intellectual reach.

That is exactly the issue I have been trying to communicate: "it is possible to be wrong about something and not know it[/color]". I do not know what part of that sentence you do not understand. I am at a total loss as to how to make it any clearer.

That is exactly the issue I have been trying to communicate: "it is possible to be wrong about something and not know it". I do not know what part of that sentence you do not understand. I am at a total loss as to how to make it any clearer.

There is nothing wrong with this sentence, and it is quite obviously true. However it is not the same sentence as the one you originally posted.

The only difference between the first and the second that I can see is that, in the first I say that if you cannot comprehend[/color] the truth of the statement you are beyond my intellectual reach[/color] and in the second, I merely restate the statement. If you cannot understand the first and find the second obvious, I am at a complete loss to understand your mode of thinking.

However, laying that aside, if I have your agreement that, "it is possible to be wrong about something and not know it"[/color], I will step off to the next thing I think has to be recognized as a truth of similar clarity: "it is possible that you are not wrong about everything"[/color]. If you will also accept that as a true statement, then it is my assertion is that these are important facts and they should be recognized as important issues in any chain of logical thought. I contend that the things that you are wrong about[/color] obey different rules than the things you are not wrong about[/color] and that the subtle difference yields astonishing consequences.

You should be well aware that, at times, extremely simple differences can yield far reaching consequences. For example look at the difference between asymmetric wave functions and symmetric wave function (nothing more than a simple difference in character of two possible solutions to exactly the same differential equation). One set of solutions yield collections of entities obeying Fermi statistics while the others obey Bose Einstein statistics; results which lead to far reaching differences in behavior of macroscopic entities.

If you are willing to listen, I will show you the consequences of the very simple difference between the rules obeyed by "what you are right about" and the rules obeyed by "what you are wrong about". And prove that consequences of these differences exist even when there is no way to discriminate between "what you are right about" and "what you are wrong about".

As to the rest of you, you sure seem to be able to come up with a lot of reasons not to think about things. I guess you are pretty well convinced there are no new intellectual breakthroughs to be made. I personally think that it is good that there are a few crackpots like me who doubt the absolute certainty of such proclamations.

Have fun -- Dick