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I studied physics at the University of Maryland, one of the better (top 20) physics programs in the US. I was surprised at how often questions were answered wit
by mparr4 12y ago
I studied physics at the University of Maryland, one of the better (top 20) physics programs in the US. I was surprised at how often questions were answered with "that's for the philosophers to think about."
Granted, there's a lot of material to cover, I don't think that's an appropriate response–especially when delivered with contempt, as it typically was.
- bkcooper 12y agoWhat are some examples of the questions that got this answer?
- Balgair 12y ago"So wait, if QM says you can be everywhere at once, are you?" "If GR means all the laws are related to the reference frame, does that mean all the things in it are relative too, like religion?" "What if Dark matter really is more than just stuff that falls down. What if there are intelligent clouds there? What are their ethics like?" "No but really, what is the definition of life?" "Ok, so fetal stem cells, but what if we took a blood sem cell and then back tracked that into a fetal one. Is that wrong?" All of these can take the 'Copenhagen Interpretation' given to undergrads. The Copenhagen Interpretation states: Shut up and calculate.
- mtdewcmu 12y agoComing from a professor, I, myself, would always presume that there was a worthwhile lesson in those kinds of short remarks. It sounds like they were possibly steering students away from questions that could not be resolved empirically, which would place them outside the scope of physics; those kinds of questions could also be debated endlessly and derail the class.