Jon
Thanks. I just wanted to remind Steven that an eminent modern physicist found
it possible to uphold his position while having a view close to Peirce's.
Søren
-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: Jon Awbrey [mailto:[email protected]]
Sendt: 19. marts 2015 15:32
Til: Søren Brier; Steven Ericsson-Zenith; Edwina Taborsky
Cc: Jerry LR Chandler; Peirce List
Emne: Re: A System Of Analytic Mechanics
Re: Søren Brier
At: http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.science.philosophy.peirce/15878
Søren, List,
Smolin's 'Time Reborn' was the subject, or at least the instigation, of much
discussion here and there around the web a couple years ago.
From a cursory search, I think it was Michael Shapiro who broached the topic
on the Peirce List, inciting discussions that went on for the rest of the
summer:
https://list.iupui.edu/sympa/arc/peirce-l/2013-05/msg00028.html
I recall blogging on it and adding a quote from Peirce in connection with a
discussion on a blog devoted to computational complexity and the theory of
computation:
http://inquiryintoinquiry.com/2013/06/01/wherefore-aught/
Regards,
Jon
On 3/19/2015 2:13 AM, Søren Brier wrote:
> Dear Steven
>
> Are you aware of the work of Unger and Smolin where they argue for the
> evolution of laws?
> The Singular Universe….THE SINGULAR UNIVERSE AND THE REALITY OF TIME
> Cambridge University Press, November 30, 2014.
> Synopsis
> This is a book on the nature of time and the basic laws of nature. We argue
> for the inclusive reality of time as well as for the mutability of the laws
> of nature. We seek to breathe new life and meaning into natural philosophy
> –- a form of reasoning that crosses the boundaries between science and
> philosophy.
> The work should appeal to a broad educated readership as well as to
> scientists and philosophers. It is not a popularization, but neither does it
> use a technical vocabulary that would restrict it to specialized readers. The
> subjects that it addresses are of paramount interest to people in many
> disciplines outside cosmology and physics.
> In the twentieth century, physics and cosmology overturned the idea of an
> unchanging background of time and space. In so doing, however, they
> maintained the idea of an immutable framework of laws of nature. This second
> idea must now also be attacked and replaced. What results is a new picture of
> the agenda of physics and cosmology as well as of the methods of fundamental
> science.
> The book develops four inter-related themes:
> 1) There is only one universe at a time. Our universe is not one of many
> worlds. It has no copy or complete model, even in mathematics. The current
> interest in multiverse cosmologies is based on fallacious reasoning.
> 2) Time is real, and indeed the only aspect of our description of nature
> which is not emergent or approximate. The inclusive reality of time has
> revolutionary implications for many of our conventional beliefs.
> 3) Everything evolves in this real time including laws of nature. There is
> only a relative distinction between laws and the states of affairs that they
> govern..
> 4) Mathematics deals with the one real world. We need not imagine it to be a
> shortcut to timeless truth about an immaterial reality (Platonism) in order
> to make sense of its “unreasonable effectiveness” in science.
> We argue by systematic philosophical and scientific reasoning , as well as by
> detailed examples, that these principles are the only way theoretical
> cosmology can break out of its current crisis in a manner that is scientific,
> i.e. results in falsifiable predictions for doable experiments.
>
> And Smolin’s Time Reborn
> “What is time?
>
> It’s the sort of question we rarely ask because it seems so obvious. And yet,
> to a physicist, time is simply a human construct and an illusion. If you
> could somehow get outside the universe and observe it from there, you would
> see that every moment has always existed and always will. Lee Smolin
> disagrees, and in Time Reborn he lays out the case why.
>
> Recent developments in physics and cosmology point toward the reality of time
> and the openness of the future. Smolin’s groundbreaking theory postulates
> that physical laws can evolve over time and the future is not yet determined.
> Newton’s fundamental laws may not remain so fundamental.”
> Smolin quotes Peirce several times in this book for the view that different
> laws emerging in the course of the development of the universe over time.
>
> Søren
>
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