On 1/22/2020 5:08 PM, Alan Grayson wrote:
When you measure something and it is so close to zero as to be indistinguishable from zero, then taking it to be zero is not an assumption.*Why don't you compare the measured value with the curvature of a sphere 1 LY in diameter, or !0^6 LY in diameter? Do you really think the curvature would be significantly different from the measured value of the universe? I doubt it. So, taking it to be zero, is just what you prefer, nothing more. CMIIAW, AG*
No, because zero is a physically interesting value. There maybe some unrecognized symmetry principle that makes it zero. It's unlikely that there's some symmetry principle that makes it 1e-6. That's why physicist look at the data as evidence for zero. Of course they may be wrong. But it's not because they are just pulling assumptions out of thin air.
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