On Monday, May 14, 2018 at 2:06:53 PM UTC, scerir wrote: > > > Il 14 maggio 2018 alle 14.17 [email protected] <javascript:> ha > scritto: > > > > On Monday, May 14, 2018 at 6:20:42 AM UTC, scerir wrote: > > > Il 14 maggio 2018 alle 6.52 [email protected] ha scritto: > > 'There is no inductive method which could lead to the fundamental concepts > of physics. Failure to understand this fact constituted the basic > philosophical error of so many investigators of the nineteenth century.' > > What does he mean? AG > > What is an "inductive method"? AG > > "The theory of relativity is a beautiful example of the basic character of > the modern development of theory. That is to say, the hypotheses from which > one starts become ever more abstract and more remote from experience. B*ut > in return one comes closer to the preeminent goal of science, that of > encompassing a maximum of empirical contents through logical deduction with > a minimum of hypotheses or axioms*. The intellectual path from the axioms > to the empirical contents or to the testable consequences becomes, thereby, > ever longer and more subtle. The theoretician is forced, ever more, to > allow himself to be directed by purely mathematical, formal points of view > in the search for theories, because *the physical experience of the > experimenter is not capable of leading us up to the regions of the highest > abstraction*. *Tentative deduction takes the place of the predominantly > inductive methods appropriate to the youthful state of science*. Such a > theoretical structure must be quite thoroughly elaborated in order for it > to lead to consequences that can be compared with experience. It is > certainly the case that here, as well, the empirical fact is the > all-powerful judge. But its judgment can be handed down only on the basis > of great and difficult intellectual effort that first bridges the wide > space between the axioms and the testable consequences. The theorist must > accomplish this Herculean task with the clear understanding that this > effort may only be destined to prepare the way for a death sentence for his > theory. One should not reproach the theorist who undertakes such a task by > calling him a fantast; instead, one must allow him his fantasizing, since > for him there is no other way to his goal whatsoever. Indeed, it is no > planless fantasizing, but rather a search for the logically simplest > possibilities and their consequences." > > --Einstein, Ideas and Opinions, 1954 >
*I see. So for Einstein an "inductive method" is indistinguishable from naive speculation. AG * > > > > > > As far as I understand, according to E., physics is made from *principles* > and from *operations*. As for *operations* (operationism in physics, there > are books about that, by Bridgman) tet us think, in example, of Special > Relativity. > > Unfortunately, for E., also QM is based on *operations*! > > https://sites.google.com/site/dlhquantum/educational/einstein-heisenberg > > and G. Holton here > > http://www-personal.umich.edu/~sanders/214/other/news/Holton.html > > and here > > http://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/pdf/10.1063/1.1292474 (scroll down) > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] <javascript:>. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > <javascript:>. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
