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I am always skeptical of these vast sweeping assumptions about a Universe which we have not even started to seriously explore. Based on the best available scie

I am always skeptical of these vast sweeping assumptions about a Universe which we have not even started to seriously explore. Based on the best available scientific tools at the time, we once thought that the solar system rotated around the earth. Based on the best scientific tools available today, we believe that our solar system and planet is extremely unique. I think we don’t know nearly enough to say with any real confidence what solar systems outside of ours look like at this point.

jerf 8y ago
The sibling comment to yours is correct in its logic in inferring what I meant. It is true that we are ignorant of many things. It is not true that our ignorance is infinitely unbounded, and it is a denial of science and rationality, not an affirmation of it, to believe such. We have gathered enough data that we already know that our solar system is not perfectly pedestrian, and no amount of additional data short of the outright falsification of our current data (which, bear in mind, is a bigger ask than a falsification of a theory, which isn't much of an ask at all) can make it more pedestrian; it can only reveal more ways in which it is not normal.
- ta1234567890 8y ago
  > It is not true that our ignorance is infinitely unbounded Well, if you define our ignorance as information we don't yet have. Then if the Universe is infinite, it means our ignorance is unbounded. In fact, if any type of infinity exists, then it means in general our ignorance is unbounded, because we will never be able to have full knowledge of that infinity. For example, you can make as many assumptions as you want about the properties of the rational numbers in between two other numbers, but unless you are able to somehow "know" all of those numbers, then your ignorance about them is in part bounded by their quantity, and if it there's an infinite amount of them, your ignorance about them will be unbounded.

jerf 8y ago

The sibling comment to yours is correct in its logic in inferring what I meant. It is true that we are ignorant of many things. It is not true that our ignorance is infinitely unbounded, and it is a denial of science and rationality, not an affirmation of it, to believe such. We have gathered enough data that we already know that our solar system is not perfectly pedestrian, and no amount of additional data short of the outright falsification of our current data (which, bear in mind, is a bigger ask than a falsification of a theory, which isn't much of an ask at all) can make it more pedestrian; it can only reveal more ways in which it is not normal.

ta1234567890 8y ago
> It is not true that our ignorance is infinitely unbounded Well, if you define our ignorance as information we don't yet have. Then if the Universe is infinite, it means our ignorance is unbounded. In fact, if any type of infinity exists, then it means in general our ignorance is unbounded, because we will never be able to have full knowledge of that infinity. For example, you can make as many assumptions as you want about the properties of the rational numbers in between two other numbers, but unless you are able to somehow "know" all of those numbers, then your ignorance about them is in part bounded by their quantity, and if it there's an infinite amount of them, your ignorance about them will be unbounded.