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As a fellow mathematician, I think maybe the right way to think about physics is that the claims are never even supposed to be “true” in some absolute mathemati
by kevinventullo 3y ago
As a fellow mathematician, I think maybe the right way to think about physics is that the claims are never even supposed to be “true” in some absolute mathematical sense. It’s more like true to some first approximation.
So maybe we can interpret this claim as saying that 25 billion years ago, the universe was kinda similar to what we have now, but 27 billion years ago everything was ultra compressed and gravity didn’t have a significant effect on anything. Or maybe time is like a left-open interval. Finite, but didn’t have a start. I dunno, I’m making stuff up.
- Certhas 3y agoLeft open interval is the right way to view it. There is no contradiction or paradox here. Merely unfamiliarity. But maybe you should not expect the rules of the early universe to be very familiar...
- User23 3y agoPhysics is only true modulo theory. It’s intense intellectual arrogance to say “because this model predicts some phenomena the world must conform to this model.” Newton, who I think it’s fair to say was not known for his humility, refused to feign hypotheses and satisfied himself with describing his observations. However in today’s day and age that way lie no fat grants, adulating television specials, or NYT bestsellers.