The Very-Many-Questions-Not-Worth-Their-Own-Thread Thread XXXVIII

[MaryKB]

You want someone who knows quantum theory but not someone with a scientific background...

O-kay... I'm pretty sure you're not going to get your wish, since people who understand quantum theory are people with scientific backgrounds.

My thinking too ... like along this route you'd probably end up with something as ridiculous as that time travel thread we had here, lol.

Maybe try a science-fiction community? They might have something you're looking for?

 

[Mouthwash]

Ugh, no, that's guaranteed to be filled with credulous people who think nanotech is feasible or some other such nonsense (that's why they're into sci-fi, and not actually doing anything useful themselves). I need someone with a rigorous knowledge of physics who can actually explain things to me without making dumb errors.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

You want an erudite physicist then.

 

[Mouthwash]

You want an erudite physicist then.

No, I want a philosopher. I don't trust physicists to hold an idea in their heads that isn't math-related. The field is split between the imaginative ones pushing incoherent gibberish and the practical ones who know enough to stay away from it (that's where their famous antipathy towards philosophy comes in - not that they really comprehend what philosophy is).

I'm not excusing philosophers; they have blind spots as well.

 

[MaryKB]

Science is mathematics. You really sound more like you're looking for science fiction.

What specific questions about physics do you have? I'm sure you can find explanations on google somewhere, I've found lots of things that are about complex topics explained for laypeople. YouTube videos can be great too, but I've found normally you need to know exactly what you're looking for.

If you're hoping to talk to a real expert, you'd probably have to go to a university professor. But I'm extremely doubtful they'll just talk to some person off the street: they'd likely completely brush you off and suggest you enroll in a class or read a book. Speaking of books, have you looked at your local library? Your librarian might be able to help you find what you're looking for in the physics section.

 

[Mouthwash]

Science is mathematics.

That's a... categorically false statement. Fields of science which rely on mathematics are a lot more reliable (and therefore more deserving of the term science), but they aren't one and the same under any definition.

What specific questions about physics do you have? I'm sure you can find explanations on google somewhere, I've found lots of things that are about complex topics explained for laypeople. YouTube videos can be great too, but I've found normally you need to know exactly what you're looking for.

I doubt it very much. I've tried.

 

[MaryKB]

Physics absolutely is mathematics ... everything in that science is rooted in mathematical principles. I mean like, really, what science doesn't use mathematics as its base? You can't explain science without mathematics, I just really don't see how that's at all possible?

Science ultimately is applied mathematics.

 

[Traitorfish]

No, I want a philosopher. I don't trust physicists to hold an idea in their heads that isn't math-related. The field is split between the imaginative ones pushing incoherent gibberish and the practical ones who know enough to stay away from it (that's where their famous antipathy towards philosophy comes in - not that they really comprehend what philosophy is).

If your starting point is "all physicists are crazy or boring", maybe you are the problem?

 

[Mouthwash]

I mean like, really, what science doesn't use mathematics as its base? You can't explain science without mathematics, I just really don't see how that's at all possible?

Science is a methodology which uses mathematics. That's not the same thing as being mathematics. Logic and mathematics are even more closely related (one can be used to express the other), but that doesn't imply that they are the same thing.

If your starting point is "all physicists are crazy or boring", maybe you are the problem?

It's not a 'starting point', it's bitter experience. I'd love it if someone here had the knowledge to discuss it with me, but my impression of CFC leads me to believe otherwise.

 

[Farm Boy]

Sounds to me like you want somebody that is thoroughly in the world, but not necessarily bespoke to a part of it. You want a theologian with side hobbies?

More to the point with internet boards, you probably want to have a discussion, but not in a general, and personal conversations take investment and investment is earned. Rolling with a premise and just seeing where it leads without recreational evisceration is a tall order when posturing is a social requirement.

 

[Synobun]

Hey, Mouthwash. I know a guy. He'd love to answer all your questions.

 

[MaryKB]

Uses mathematics? Oh dear, science is nothing without mathematics! You're really splitting hairs I feel, and I'm sure you know what I mean. Any science explanation that doesn't use mathematics ... isn't science.

Science is applied math ... can you explain how it isn't? Can you please tell me what kind of science isn't math? I took physics, biology, and chemistry in school ... and all of those are math.

This is why I really feel you're really looking more for science fiction, some kind of science-sounding-but-not-real-science type of discussion (like that time travel thread)

 

[Farm Boy]

Math is a way of looking at it. Some math is more creative than other math.

 

[MaryKB]

No.

 

[Farm Boy]

Succinct if dogmatic.

Mathematical research is pretty cool. The guys I've talked to that are into it are definitely a type of creative.

 

[Mouthwash]

Uses mathematics? Oh dear, science is nothing without mathematics! You're really splitting hairs I feel, and I'm sure you know what I mean. Any science explanation that doesn't use mathematics ... isn't science.

Yes. Science needs to measure the world, and the requires math.

Can you please tell me what kind of science isn't math? I took physics, biology, and chemistry in school ... and all of those are math.

Science isn't math, by definition:

"Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe."

"Mathematics includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), structure (algebra), space (geometry), and change (mathematical analysis)."

 

[MaryKB]

You're being pedantic. For all intents and purposes, science is math.

 

[Mouthwash]

You're being pedantic.

There's little room for metaphor when defining something as fuzzy (and often badly defined) as science. Probably have spent too much time around philosophers, though.

Anyway, since no one seems have anything useful for me, I might try shooting @El_Machinae a pm. Is Bootstoots active? He's the most science conversant user on here, so I expect him to at least be able to discuss interpretations of quantum mechanics.

 

[Synobun]

No one can give you anything useful since you're being cagey.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I won't tell you. There's no point. Nobody can help me."

"Okay."

"Why won't people help me? "

 

[El_Machinae]

One book I quite recommend is Lee Smolin's Three Roads to Quantum Gravity.

It's hard, but he's pretty good. His goal as a popularizer is to prevent people from becoming fixated as one possible solution as the solution to the questions. Parts of the book will only make sense (probably) to graduates. But lots of it got a great gist out.

You won't run into questions like "is there free will?" or whatever. But it allows you to look at the underlying quantum theories from three different (explored) perspectives. Reality isn't subjective, but our ability to model it is. So, sometimes you need to shift perspective in order to describe a different part of the elephant.