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"The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless." - Steven Weinberg. Part of feels like, so what? If we figured out a mathematica

by tw1010 9y ago

"The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless." - Steven Weinberg. Part of feels like, so what? If we figured out a mathematical model that described the phenomenon, what then?

jameskilton 9y ago
That's kind of the whole point of science. We can't know "what then" until we understand why.
- adrianN 9y ago
  Science doesn't really answer "why". It only provides models that allow us to predict, more or less accurately, a future state of some system based on the current state.
jboxee 9y ago
so what?
nerdponx 9y ago
Sit back and marvel at the beauty of it.
taneq 9y ago
Then we know that the "meaning" that we're looking for isn't in the bit we just figured out. It's like the way that any time we do something that looks like AI, it's "not real AI" because we understand how it works.
mfoy_ 9y ago
Life is giant sand mandala.
carapace 9y ago
"Science does not remove the terror of the gods." There are two (at least) modes of relating to the world, one is a disassociated analytical stance, the "objective" observer, the other is an associated experiential stance, the "subjective" observer. The former leads to science while the latter leads to mysticism. Like the wave/particle models of light, each both gives something and takes something away. If mathematical models are starting to bore you it's possible you're getting ready to explore subjective reality? (E.g. go to an aquarium and really look at a jellyfish.)
alanbernstein 9y ago
I'm a bit confused by this comment, because the article isn't really about the "why", it's mostly just a description of the phenomenon. Maybe you're responding to the clickbaity title? The nest is interesting to me, if for no other reason than that it's pretty. That said, I can imagine that understanding the behavior of social insects, generally, might have practical implications in designing swarm robot behavior.

by tw1010 9y ago

jameskilton 9y ago

That's kind of the whole point of science. We can't know "what then" until we understand why.

adrianN 9y ago
Science doesn't really answer "why". It only provides models that allow us to predict, more or less accurately, a future state of some system based on the current state.

jboxee 9y ago

so what?

nerdponx 9y ago

Sit back and marvel at the beauty of it.

taneq 9y ago

Then we know that the "meaning" that we're looking for isn't in the bit we just figured out. It's like the way that any time we do something that looks like AI, it's "not real AI" because we understand how it works.

mfoy_ 9y ago

Life is giant sand mandala.

carapace 9y ago

"Science does not remove the terror of the gods." There are two (at least) modes of relating to the world, one is a disassociated analytical stance, the "objective" observer, the other is an associated experiential stance, the "subjective" observer. The former leads to science while the latter leads to mysticism. Like the wave/particle models of light, each both gives something and takes something away. If mathematical models are starting to bore you it's possible you're getting ready to explore subjective reality? (E.g. go to an aquarium and really look at a jellyfish.)

alanbernstein 9y ago

I'm a bit confused by this comment, because the article isn't really about the "why", it's mostly just a description of the phenomenon. Maybe you're responding to the clickbaity title? The nest is interesting to me, if for no other reason than that it's pretty. That said, I can imagine that understanding the behavior of social insects, generally, might have practical implications in designing swarm robot behavior.