There are no laws of physics theres only the landscape.

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the nature of physical laws and their applicability to real-world scenarios, particularly in the context of everyday occurrences and instinctual learning. Participants explore the idea that physical laws may not be absolute but rather theoretical constructs shaped by assumptions and observations.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that in real-world situations, such as calculating the trajectory of a golf ball off a cliff without precise data, one must rely on assumptions, leading to the belief that physical laws are not absolute but theoretical concepts.
  • Another participant counters that while instinctual learning of physical behaviors occurs, this does not negate the existence of physical laws, which can be mathematically described.
  • A different viewpoint emphasizes that there may be multiple mathematical descriptions of the universe that are equivalent, suggesting a landscape of theories rather than fixed laws.
  • One participant argues that practical applications of physics, such as technology, demonstrate the reality of physical laws, contrasting experiential knowledge with theoretical physics.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the existence and nature of physical laws, with some asserting their utility and others questioning their absoluteness. The discussion remains unresolved, with multiple competing perspectives presented.

Contextual Notes

Participants rely on personal experiences and interpretations of physics concepts, leading to varying definitions and understandings of what constitutes a law of physics versus a theoretical construct.

InebriatedScientist
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In my post that I have been ranting on trying to figure out how to solve things on everyday occurrences. Which was titled "Mass of a Piston"

That is to say, can you use physics on the spot to calculate a golf swing that projects a ball off a cliff that you have never seen before. You don't know how high the cliff is or how much force was used to launch the ball. You also do not have a tech to help you "Mesure" things. Basically, you just observed this at random. So you can assume things, but that means you will not be precise. That is to say, it is easy to solve physics problems with data that is provided in the classroom setting. But in the real world, you would never know what is exactly happing, you would have to guess or assume. That leaves me to believe that there is no such thing as laws of physics but only assumed theoretical concepts to our best ability.

If this makes no sense to you, because I am terrible at communicating, I will make it simple. This is what I was really trying to make people understand. And that is "there are no laws of physics there is only landscape" I found this a good way to describe it. I did not write it, I just found a site after googling "Physics concepts are not real"

https://www.quantamagazine.org/there-are-no-laws-of-physics-there's-only-the-landscape-20180604/

After I read it, I thought to myself, "THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I AM SAYING"
 
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Whatever you mean by "no laws", I guess they have been pretty useful up to now.
 

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InebriatedScientist said:
Basically, you just observed this at random. So you can assume things, but that means you will not be precise. That is to say, it is easy to solve physics problems with data that is provided in the classroom setting. But in the real world, you would never know what is exactly happing, you would have to guess or assume. That leaves me to believe that there is no such thing as laws of physics but only assumed theoretical concepts to our best ability.
All animals - humans and others - learn how to do physical things, by repetition. Whether it is something as basic as walking or more complicated like throwing a ball into a hoop, through repetition you learn how you and objects around you behave in the physical world and develop an instinct for making making physical motions work.

That doesn't mean that physical laws don't exist, it just means we learn them instinctively.

Humans, however, are alone in the animal kingdom in having worked-out the actual math of how those physical motions work. So when you throw a ball off a cliff, you may have an instinct for what is going to happen, but you could also measure the start of the trajectory and predict where it would land with math -- if you chose to.

(This post should have been too obvious to be necessary.)
 
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InebriatedScientist said:
If this makes no sense to you, because I am terrible at communicating, I will make it simple. This is what I was really trying to make people understand. And that is "there are no laws of physics there is only landscape" I found this a good way to describe it. I did not write it, I just found a site after googling "Physics concepts are not real"

My take from that article was that there are potentially many different mathematical descriptions of the universe and the laws by which it operates, all of which are equivalent to each other. That's why it's a landscape. It's a landscape composed of different descriptions. I can't reconcile this with your statement that there are no laws of physics.
 
InebriatedScientist said:
If this makes no sense to you, because I am terrible at communicating, I will make it simple. This is what I was really trying to make people understand. And that is "there are no laws of physics there is only landscape" I found this a good way to describe it. I did not write it, I just found a site after googling "Physics concepts are not real"
They are real enough that now you can have a computer (based on physics). Based on experience alone, you would stuck somewhere at the level of an abacus.

Based on experience, all things will stop moving eventually. But if somebody start asking further, then it will lead to discoveries about Newtonian laws and drag (almost the complete classical physics, with all the applications). Then which is more real, the limited experience or the physics?
 
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InebriatedScientist said:
After I read it, I thought to myself, "THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I AM SAYING"
After I read it I thought “That had nothing whatsoever to do with what you were previously saying”

Do not restart closed threads. Thread closed again.
 

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