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Thanks for sharing this cartoon! This phenomenon is not limited to physicists either, it is pretty much true for all professionals and famous people. But also,

by nyc111 8y ago

Thanks for sharing this cartoon! This phenomenon is not limited to physicists either, it is pretty much true for all professionals and famous people. But also, physicists claim that they do not deal in philosophy, yet the main subject matter of theoretical physics is a collection of old philosophical subjects such as time, space, the cosmos and absolute beginnings of things. There is a confusion here. This article makes important points about the relation of physics and mathematics. I agree that physicists pick and choose "smooth" and solvable system and then claim to reveal the secrets of the universe.

whatshisface 8y ago
>But also, physicists claim that they do not deal in philosophy, yet the main subject matter of theoretical physics is a collection of old philosophical subjects such as time, space, the cosmos and absolute beginnings of things. Geometry used to be studied exclusively by philosophers, but after a long string of successes the group of people who specialized in it got renamed to "mathematicians." Likewise at one point natural science was called "natural philosophy." Philosophy is the mother of the sciences but once the kids get established they move out of the house. >physicists pick and choose "smooth" and solvable system and then claim to reveal the secrets of the universe. If you are looking for knowledge about the universe, one hundred percent of it will be found in the form of "ideas comprehensible to humans." All of the secrets of the universe that we know are obviously going to be the knowable ones. If you spend time studying things that aren't knowable then by definition you are wasting your time, even if there is an ontological category of "unknowable but true."