On 6 June 2015 at 09:46, meekerdb <[email protected]> wrote: > On 6/5/2015 12:22 PM, John Clark wrote: > > On Fri, Jun 5, 2015 , meekerdb <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> It's very relevant if you want to know what is a simplified >> approximation of what. And we both agree that a electronic computer is >> vastly more complex than it's logical schematic, so why can we make a >> working model of the complex thing but not make a working model of the >> simple thing when usually it's easier to make a simple thing than a complex >> thing? The only answer that comes to mind is that particular simplified >> approximation is just too simplified and just too approximate to actually >> do anything. That simplification must be missing something important, >> matter that obeys the laws of physics. > > > >> > The trouble with this argument is that the laws of physics are >> mathematical abstractions. >> > > Mathematicians are always saying that mathematics is a language, but > what would be the consequences if that were really true? The best way known > to describe the laws of physics is to write then in the language of > mathematics, but a language is not the thing the language is describing. > > > I agree the laws of physics are descriptions we invent; but even so they > are abstractions and not material and what they define is only an > approximation to what happens in the world. That's what makes them useful > - they let us make predictions while leaving out a lot of stuff. > > I know what you mean, but this statement could be considered a bit misleading. Unlike the other branches of science, physics at least tries to be a complete description. Of course it fails in practice, but (very much in theory) a TOE would describe everything - it would in principle be like "Laplace's demon" (though possibly only for a multiverse).
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