On Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 03:59:24PM +1100, Colin Hales wrote: > > > Jason Resch wrote: > > Described in this article: > > http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=2617 > > > > "This summation of all paths, proposed in the 1960s by physicist > > Richard Feynman and others, is the only way to explain some of the > > bizarre properties of quantum particles, such as their apparent > > ability to be in two places at once. The key point is that not all > > paths contribute equally to the photon's behaviour: the straight-line > > trajectory dominates over the indirect ones. > > > > Hertog argues that the same must be true of the path through time that > > took the Universe into its current state. We must regard it as a sum > > over all possible histories." > > > > > > So we "must", must we? > > A mathematical construction by humans, happens to cohere to some extent > with reality. > A mere description. > > A million other descriptions, also constructed by humans, could be as > predictive of how the universe appears. > > What extra belief system must exist in order that someone conclude that > we 'must' chose a "sum of all histories" as "the" story? Why is the > universe compelled to be such a thing? > > Rhetorical question...don't answer. Just think. > > happy new year, everythingers. > > cheers > colin >
"Must" in the sense that it is a "neat" idea, or even a "beautiful" idea. This will correlate to some notion of simplicity under Occam's razor. Then it is probably coupled in this case with giving the right answer. Of course it is always possible that it will be found wanting tomorrow :). -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) Mathematics UNSW SYDNEY 2052 hpco...@hpcoders.com.au Australia http://www.hpcoders.com.au ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to everything-l...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
