On Monday, October 15, 2018 at 12:29:30 PM UTC-5, John Clark wrote: > On Mon, Oct 15, 2018 at 12:51 PM Philip Thrift <[email protected] > <javascript:>> wrote: > > > *There is not one method of calculation.* > > > There is always more than one way to make a calculation in physics, but at > the end of the day they all end up with the same number. And if that number > doesn't match the number experiment told us about then either somebody made > a mathematical error in the calculation or the theory the calculation was > based on is wrong. > > >> *> The "just calculate" interpretation is filled with "computational" >> interpretations. * >> > > Use whatever interpretation you like and you're still going to come up > with the same number as everybody else even if their interpretation is > radically different from yours. If this was not true we would not have had > a 90 year old controversy over which interpretations were better than > others because we'd know, we'd know that some produced the same numbers > that experiment did and some didn't; but unfortunatly we don't know because > all interpretations produce the same numbers and they are all equally close > to the numbers experiment provides. > > >> > *There is not one method of calculation. Each method of calculation >> has within it some sort of "programmatic model":* >> > > And if the model the calculation is based on comes up with a different > number than the one experiment does then the model is wrong, the trouble is > in quantum mechanics there are lots of very different models that come up > with the same number and they all agree with experiment, so you're free to > embrace any model you like. > > John K Clark > >
That is true in all sciences (not just QM). Look at all he different models of evolution (punctuated equilibria, ...). The data is the same (the fossil record). This goes back to the pragmatists (Quine, Rorty, ...), "underdetermination", Kant (naturally), .... *Many models for the same data.* *It's the curse of science.* - pt -- 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.
