Quote: (02-02-2015 10:16 AM)Samseau Wrote:
I don't know why Einstein gets all the credit, when the idea of time and space as a subjective experience goes all the way back to the British empiricists. Kant also postulated that time itself is nothing but an illusion created by our minds in order to interpret the world outside of our minds (the thing in itself) into logical parts.
Einstein of course read these guys and came up with the idea that time was related to space, because he took Kant's interpretation of space and time as functions of the mind as true. It's guys like Kant who deserve the most credit.
Yes. It seems to me that as physicists move into space and quantum mechanics and begin talking about time and infinity, then the line between philosophy and physics gets blurred further and further.
What I mean is that physics as a science and particularly in application through mathematic notation is still only a language. Saying 'two plus two equals four' is equally as correct as 2+2=4.
What often seems to happen in these kind of strange quantum theories and experiments is that the math and equations begin to lose their effectiveness as their ability to describe the underlying source becomes too abstract. How are you supposed to describe something like a superstring? Does the mathematical symbol for infinite lend greater understanding to the actual concept of infinite than does Tibetan meditation or meta-physic debate?
Lets stay with that superstring theory, that everything is vibration. Does tis describe the universe in any different way than most mystic knowledge claiming all being is one and the same? Does reincarnation suddenly become a viable scientific concept? After all, death is then merely an altered state of energy, not a destruction of it.
Lets also not forget that all these theories are vastly different and very loosely based on empirical science. At this extremely abstract form of physics, it is not enough to be able to rationally describe what a theory is about, because the cognitive tools of rationality is barely able to process it.