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I understand what you mean when you say "pseudoscientific bullshit," but it might be better to simply say "non-scientific" in the sense of "beyond the ambit of
by sramsay 5y ago
I understand what you mean when you say "pseudoscientific bullshit," but it might be better to simply say "non-scientific" in the sense of "beyond the ambit of what science is designed to explain."
The problem of "being" (why there is something rather than nothing) is similar. It's not just that we don't have a physics explanation for why anything exists in the first place; it's that physics may not be able to answer that kind of question at all.
None of that is necessarily "pseudoscience" or necessarily bullshit (though it's easy enough to find examples of both).
I am skeptical of the circularity of the argument, though. There must be a "physics explanation" because physics explains everything. And we know that, because if physics can't explain it, it doesn't exist. And we know that, because physics explains everything.
(Not accusing you in particular of making that argument . . .)
- Jensson 5y agoPhysics is the field of explaining everything in the universe. Therefore, if physics can't explain a phenomena we don't understand it, as physics is the ultimate explanation we have. I didn't say that if physics can't explain it then it doesn't exist, as you seem to think, just that if physics can't explain it then our understanding of the topic doesn't exist.
- sramsay 5y agoNo, no. I did not think you are saying that (that if physics doesn't explain something it doesn't exist). That's why I put in that last line. But now I'm actually not so sure. You seem to not admit of a category of things that physics can't explain. There are things it does not currently explain, things it has not yet explained, things it has explained wrongly, and things it may never explain as an historical matter. But not things it can't explain ("can't" in the sense of "is incapable of"). Do I have you right on that?
- Jensson 5y agoIf physics can't explain it then humans can't explain it. That is my stance. If there is a separate world outside of this world etc, then that would get incorporated into physics. I don't see how any scientific explanation for consciousness wouldn't become a part of physics. Basically, physics describes all the rules of this world. Consciousness exists and is a part of the world, so it is a part of the rules of the world, so it is a part of physics.