OM - no, I do not take any of your comments as personal. I see them as
challenging what I proposed, which is the hope I had when I posted
them. Thanks.
Now for some specific observations. First the beleif that there
is an ultimate theory of everything is not mine. It must have been and
be the belief of all those, like Einstein, who chose to devote a major
part of their life to pursuing it.
And about my suggestion that as we approach knowing everything
the rate of knowledge increase should gradually decrease - it is just
and only that, a suggestion. It well may be that we gain knowledge at
a faster and faster rate until - WHAM - we discover that we know
everything, like hitting a wall.
I'd appreciate your reaction to the central thesis of my post -
will we ever know everything about everything? What do you think? Jim
On Jun 27, 5:47 pm, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote:
> “…And as we come toknowthem here faster and faster, at some point it
> would seem that we willknoweverythingabouteverything…” – RJ
>
> Yes, Jim, this is a common belief.
>
> “…the ultimate theory ofeverything.” – RJ
>
> And, yes, this has been pursued ‘forever’. However, what has been
> included in the ‘physical universe’ has changed over time. So, this
> notion can be applied to numerous different levels.
>
> “…If knowingeverythingwere obviously not possible, surely this group
> would never have begun pursuing that ultimate theory…” – RJ
>
> Well, while an apparently plausible belief Jim, again, it is not based
> upon anything but that, belief.
>
> “…As we approach knowingeverythingthe rate of knowledge growth will
> gradually slow. So by monitoring this rate of growth we should be able
> to predict when we willknoweverything. Right?” – RJ
>
> Surely this is rhetorical. If not, what would such a belief be based
> upon?
> And, EVEN if it were accurate, at the beginning of your post you said
> “..we (mankind) is coming toknow, in a scientific sense, more and
> more about more and more, and faster and faster…”. So, based upon your
> first observation, IF any conclusion can be gained, even accepting
> blindly your last supposition, one would have to conclude that we will
> neverknoweverything. And, again, even IF we could, the indicators
> are that such a point in time is far far away.
>
> Please do not take any of the above as personal criticism. I merely am
> looking at the logic used.
>
> On Jun 27, 1:20 pm, retiredjim34 <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Looking back over recent decades it seems clear that we (mankind) is
> > coming toknow, in a scientific sense, more and more about more and
> > more, and faster and faster. Will thereevercome a time when we will
> >knoweverythingabouteverything?
> > I’ve asked a number of people this question, and all say “no.” But
> > it
> > seems to me that the correct answer is “yes.” Why?
> > First, I’m talking about knowing all the scientific laws governing
> > the physical universe – nothing more, nothing less. The physical
> > universe is immense, but finite. Science has long assumed that the
> > laws governing our small bit of it are universal; they apply
> > everywhere in the universe just as they apply here. Given then that
> > the physical universe is finite, it would seem that the laws governing
> > it are also finite. And as we come toknowthem here faster and
> > faster, at some point it would seem that we willknoweverythingabout
> >everything.
> > This also seems to me to be consistent with what Einstein and others
> > have long sought – the ultimate theory ofeverything. (This effort is
> > well described by Brian Greene in his book The Elegant Universe.) If
> > knowingeverythingwere obviously not possible, surely this group
> > would never have begun pursuing that ultimate theory.
> > How might we tell when we are approaching the point where weknow
> >everything? I expect the growth of knowledge is gaussian. As we
> > approach knowingeverythingthe rate of knowledge growth will
> > gradually slow. So by monitoring this rate of growth we should be able
> > to predict when we willknoweverything. Right?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
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