What is it about relativity and quantum mechanics that causes so much trouble?
I think it comes down to this: Relativity: In classical physics there is an image of what is at any given point in time. Given two observers one can then use the physics to predict what the results of their observations will be. However, relativity breaks this concept down. There is no "what is at a given point in time" rather the image that one must use to predict what one will see is relative to the frame of reference meaning it is different for two people who are moving relative to each other.. So if you ask the question "What is right now?" the relativist will answer "relative to which frame of reference?" Once you know what frame of reference you are talking about then you know which image to use and you can predict what observers will observe. Now this property of the theory causes many to equivocate it with philosophical relativism. The claim can be made that the fact that there is no answer to the question "What is right now?" means that philosophical relativism is correct where the term philosophical relativism means roughly that what is real is relative to the perceiver and there is nothing tying different perceiver's perceptions together. Several aspects of the scientific theory however causes this equivocation to be false: First, the total set of events that occur is the same for all observers. It is just when and where things occur that is relative not whether and what occurs. Second, the way the sets are arranged is not arbitrary. There are transformation equations that, given one set of pictures corresponding to the nows of a frame of reference, will allow me to produce any other observers pictures. Third, by conceiving of the reality in a four dimensional space with an appropriate metric one can, through a process of projection that is very similiar to the way classical physics projects reality onto observers, determine the "presents" of all frames of reference. Fourth, relativity preserves the possibility of causality. Fifth, for a given frame of reference all observers have the same set of nows and the process of observation is like in classical physics. Sixth for all frames of reference the observations are the same at collocated points. No one disagrees about what is observed only how to arrange that into a series of images that represent time by means of calculations. Quantum Mechanics: The problem here is with the wave particle duality. Prior to quantum mechanics there was a clear image of "what was" at any given time. Either light was a wave or it was a particle. There was no doubt that it could be both because they are not the same thing. Everyone knew reality had to be in some imaginable way. Quantum mechanics however does not state that there is some particular objective image that constitutes the way things are. Quantum mechanics does this by assuming that there are waves the amplitude of which predict the probability of appearing of a particle. There is nothing other than this probability of appearing in the theory that would correspond to an image of "what really is". Due to the nature of waves there are inherent uncertainties in what can be predicted. The observation of the location of a particle results in complete uncertainty about its motion and that uncertainty cannot be eliminated by more careful observation-it is inherent in the reality. However, again this cannot be equated with philosophical relativism since the reality (here the actual appearings that really do appear at the probabilities predicted by the theory) are the same for all observers and again objectivity in the sense of something being the same for everybody is preserved. It seems to me that the "objective" world of science is preserved therefore and relativity and quantum cannot be equated with relativism. The real philosophical issues therefore arise equally in both classical and modern physics. The fact is that physical reality is not determinable logically. One cannot derive physical law without observation. Therefore it is dependent on observation. However, the fact is that when observation is conducted then the laws of physics that result are remarkably stable. They result to an amazing degree in constraints on the logical possibilities. Throw a baseball. Logically it can go out from your hand five feet then stop and hover. Physically it won't, a statement that is not absolutely certain as it is based on observation but is still very certain given the stability of the essent and our to date scientific experience. The mystical interpretation of reality are all based in careful analysis of observation itself and on the basis underneath science and really are about the foundation of science itself. The scientific theories do not speak to it and the questions being asked are not scientific questions. On the other side, mystical insight can frequently be misinterpreted as science and you have the mistakes that can be seen in "New Age" fundamentalism. So the net effect is to just eliminate naive objectivity in which one imagines the world as a bunch of little marbles or as a wave continuum or something. Still there is a description of a reality that allows one to make predictions about future appearances - admittedly with some uncertainty due to quantum mechanics. And these theories have existential implications given our incarnate nature and the possibility of death. Science does not lead to philosophical relativism and leaves open all of the work necessary underneath the physical theories to determine their meaning. The philosophical issues remain open to philosophical inquiry and since the science is all based on observation the uncertainty inherent in the process is always present. Those who interpret scientific theory ontologically and state that scientific law is true for all of the future and that scientific theories determine all reality are making a simple non sequitor. They are concluding that things will be as they have been. This conclusion is justifiable scientifically (explicitly it is the assumption of homogeneity of time) but is unfounded philosophically. In fact there is the permanent possibility that future scientific experiment could contradict current theory. They are also making another non-seqitor when they extrapolate what happens in the repeatable results that they obtain in the lab with the possibility that something in violation of the laws they obtain has ever happened or is happening right now. The error here is the problem of too small of a sample size. However, they are making a bigger error. They simply are missing the philosophical meaning of the situation and have no access to the meaning of alternative ontology. They interpret the philosophical statements scientifically and then reject them based on science. So the naive view that either science is right and that is what reality is or it is wrong and then anything can happen is the real problem. It's a false dilemma. The fact is that science is amazingly right but that it is not impossible that it could be violated in the future or even that it has been or is being violated right now somewhere. Furthermore the meaning of reality is not understandable through science and requires genuine philosophical inquiry the results of which can bear on aesthetics, ethics etc. So -roughly- the problem is resolved in a simple statement: If you want to know what reality is you must think philosophically and if you want to know what will probably happen in it think scientifically. On Mar 25, 5:47 am, Pat <[email protected]> wrote: > On 25 Mar, 09:26, Vamadevananda <[email protected]> wrote: > > > What the topic raises ( uh, umpteen time ! ) is that, while the " > > thing i.e.reality " is never in doubt, we yet do not know what it is. > > What it appears, in experience or science, is only what we see, > > believe, surmise or establish ( on concrete consequential evidence, > > too ), is just that : appearance. > > > For most of us, this appearance of reality is adequate. Very, very few > > refuse to rest at that ; they want to know the reality, as it is, not > > as it appears, believability notwithsatanding. > > > Yes, KC, Space and Time is what we understand, define and take it to > > be. They are a part or, more exactly, features of the " appearance." > > Exactly. Whilst it's possible that 'that which is' could have > folded differently and revealed different features, our noting of any > features in the whole is, in reality, a reflexive act in which we gaze > at the larger part (feature) of ourselves that IS the whole. > > > On Mar 25, 12:14 pm, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > That's really only the start of the argument Craig, though a sensible > > > introduction that assumes a circular form rather too quickly. Most > > > arguments like this 'return to the subject', yet within subjectivity > > > we then insist on objectivity - relativity insisting that it describes > > > space-time everywhere and so on. Actor-network theory (for instance) > > > claims to be ontologically relativist and epistemologically empiricist > > > - which is not a statement of there being no reality apart from space- > > > time, but rather one that allows speculation on the nature of reality > > > under rules of evidence. In principle, legal systems operate in a > > > similar matter, being led to conclusion by evidence (though in reality > > > they are often really a mess of lies and human interests- that is > > > ideological). Modern relativism has reached a conclusion a bit like > > > yours in that it believes the reality hypothesis is implicit in its > > > reasoning, questioning what appears the inevitable theory-ladenness of > > > observations. I suspect we would often agree on what the evidence in > > > a case is, assuming we could get some reliable investigation done - > > > that is we assume there is common ground and crucial evidence. It > > > could be interesting here to compare a criminal case with the > > > scientific case that we live in a world that is a shadow of reality. > > > > On 25 Mar, 02:36, Kierkecraig <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Reality is a word that has meaning. Where did that meaning come > > > > from? Hasn't it come from our experience? What kind of experience > > > > could we have other than an experience in space and time? There is no > > > > reality apart from space and time. They are implicit in the very > > > > notion of reality.- Hide quoted text - > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. 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