Well, where's the science in it? I mean, there's plenty of *scientism*: big words, equations, logical calculus, even some experimental results. But what is there about 'our actions determine the nature of the universe' that's testable? Or falsifiable, for that matter?
And in any case, are any of these theories really implied by the physics -- or are they instead implied by the metaphors around the physics? On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 3:01 PM, Jonathan Sherwood < [email protected]> wrote: > Well, I don't know if I could say it's theology masquerading as science, > but yes, everything you just said would be a natural implication of that > idea. Which brings about questions of what do we mean by "the universe", > "reality", and "everything." > -- > Jonathan Sherwood > Sr. Science & Technology Press Officer > University of Rochester > 585-273-4726 > > > On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 2:52 PM, Eric Scoles <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Yes, this is mind blowing. But let's take a moment to clearly articulate >> what this means: >> It would mean that the actions of humans determines the nature of the >> universe. Not only that there is no objective reality apart from our >> thinking about it, but also that we determine reality. >> It would mean that there is a God, and we are It. >> >> This is, flatly, religion. >> >> And of course it's fundamentally not science, since it can't be >> falsified. >> >> It's really just theology masquerading as science. >> >> >> >> On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 2:32 PM, Jonathan Sherwood < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Hawking had a mind-blowing idea recently. He said that it may be that the >>> origin of the universe has not yet been determined, but that the >>> observations we are currently making will determine what the origin was, >>> retroactively. >>> Since quantum mechanics completely thwarts our intuition, I think it's >>> natural for us to be fascinated with it. There's a lot of data to suggest QM >>> does mess with time, at least in the way we understand time. You could view >>> entanglement as an event in the future making sure an event in the past >>> happens a certain way. >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Jonathan Sherwood >>> Sr. Science & Technology Press Officer >>> University of Rochester >>> 585-273-4726 >>> >>> >>> On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 12:22 PM, Eric Scoles <[email protected]>wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> Yes, but it probably wouldn't be very good. Unless the Higgs God (or is >>>> it the Higgs Demiurge? Anti-Higgs God?) intervened to make it wildly >>>> successful as a means of stopping the LHC once and for all.... >>>> >>>> I do find this fascination with stories about quantum theory to be ... >>>> fascinating. Meta-fascinating, I guess. It seems to me that people are >>>> fascinated with something quite other than what the theory's actually >>>> about. >>>> All these personifications of the concepts involved -- doesn't that make >>>> anyone uncomfortable? It makes my freaking head spin. We might as well be >>>> talking about angels -- I suspect it would have as much bearing on the >>>> actual physics involved. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 11:38 AM, Jonathan Sherwood < >>>> [email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> This just has "fodder for a science fiction story" plastered all over >>>>> it. >>>>> >>>>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/science/space/13lhc.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Jonathan Sherwood >>>>> Sr. Science & Technology Press Officer >>>>> University of Rochester >>>>> 585-273-4726 >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> eric scoles ([email protected]) >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> eric scoles ([email protected]) >> >> >> > > > > -- eric scoles ([email protected]) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
