6 ms·
For all we know about physics, we still can't answer basic questions. Much of physics is just describing how our world behaves, not what our world is. To me,
by ijidak 6y ago
For all we know about physics, we still can't answer basic questions.
Much of physics is just describing how our world behaves, not what our world is.
To me, It's depressing that all the physics we know could be thrown away with one discovery.
As a lay person, it seems useless to spend too much time learning what we currently know.
It's like becoming well-read on the latest theories of copernicus only to have Isaac Newton blow the whole thing up.
It's great if you're a physicist. It opens doors to new work.
But not so great if you just want to know what it is and how does it work.
- aeternum 6y agoOnce we know how things work with clarity, don't they become boring and lose some of that wonder?
- titanomachy 6y agoI think most physicists would be thrilled if we discovered something genuinely new and fundamental that forced us to reevaluate all our existing models. It hasn't happened in a while, though.
- ssivark 6y agoIt’s not that bad... in fact, quite the opposite :-) Whenever we peel back a layer to discover new physics, the old models are never lost, since the new models must necessarily reduce to those in more familiar situations! Another factor is that as we learn more physics, as important as it might be to find answers, it is even more important to understand how our previous questions/notions might have been naive, and what might be better concepts with which to formulate our models. The variety of perspectives on the meaning of a “particle” merely illustrate that fact, applied to a naive word/concept that we’ve strung along for a long time.
- lbblack 6y agoI'm not a professional physicist but it would seem unlikely that one discovery would permanently wipe generations of fruitful knowledge and imagination which has passed the eyes of some of the most brilliant minds that ever walked the planet. Not to say that it can't happen, but it would be more likely that we are missing a component/relationship that we don't understand about our reality either because we don't have to the physical senses to detect it or the technology to measure it. I'd highly consider studying some physics even if you view yourself as a layman, it can geniunely be immense fun!