by RArvay » Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:48 pm
Not being a physicist, I restrict my comments to the layman perspective.
First, allow me to say that this thread got me to thinking deeply about
the core foundations of a science in which I have a keen interest.
Here is part of a letter I wrote to a friend with related interests.
You may or may not find it useful in your thinking.
Science continues to unfold in very dramatic ways, not only producing new answers, but more importantly, producing new questions.
Because scientific knowledge results in so many technological applications, it is seen as the king of human endeavor, the foundation of human thought, and the pinnacle of human achievement.
As with all kings, however, its reign must eventually come to an end. The technology which has validated science for so many centuries has been a blessing, making life longer, more pleasant, and more productive than it has ever been. Now, however, technology is becoming less and less a faithful servant, and is beginning to show signs of becoming the cruel master that we somehow always feared it would.
While this is happening, the most fundamental theories of science are beginning to show early signs of disarray. Scientists themselves disagree, seem unsure, and even contradict each other. The epitome of all this is the relativity-versus-quantum dichotomy, but there are many mundane examples as well.
Moreover, the gap between scientists and nonscientists is swiftly widening. Our familiar everyday experiences of reality are bearing less and less resemblance to the formulas of physics. Indeed, matters have become so unsettled that some physicists have actually gone so far as to ask, do we exist?
Finally, the formulas of physics have become inaccessible to the vast majority of humans. We cannot hope to understand them. The intricate squiggles and symbols that fill up the chalk board of the physics classroom are beyond my intellect, and utterly beyond the ken of most people. Even people of great intellect may have other interests that fill their time. Even they simply cannot put in the decade or more of years required for a PhD in physics, and cannot spend the thousands of dollars it costs.
According to a physicist who posted at sci.physicsforums.com,
Nikola Tesla wrote: “Today's scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality."
Finally, the grand priests of physics do not even agree among themselves on many important aspects of what physics teaches us about the universe. Is science unraveling?
Science cannot answer questions which it cannot ask, and we may be inherently incapable of asking the most important questions.
How could it be otherwise? If humans are the products of nature, then how can the subset comprehend the whole?
In my self-published book, The God Paradigm, I maintain that, until science explains consciousness, it has explained nothing.
I also maintain that the explanation of consciousness may be beyond physics altogether. Even the atheist evolutionist JBS Haldane conceded that the answer is not material. He said, “It seems to me immensely unlikely that mind is a mere by-product of matter. For if my mental processes are determined wholly by the motions of atoms in my brain I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true. They may be sound chemically, but that does not make them sound logically. And hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms.”
Haldane probably meant “mind,” rather than “brain,” but his insight is important. His statement, whether he intended the inference or not, strongly suggests that the nature of consciousness is fundamental, not phenomenal. If so, then consciousness is not a physical emanation of atoms, but rather a spiritual property, a realm that is forever beyond the domain of material science.
Not being a physicist, I restrict my comments to the layman perspective.
First, allow me to say that this thread got me to thinking deeply about
the core foundations of a science in which I have a keen interest.
Here is part of a letter I wrote to a friend with related interests.
You may or may not find it useful in your thinking.
Science continues to unfold in very dramatic ways, not only producing new answers, but more importantly, producing new questions.
Because scientific knowledge results in so many technological applications, it is seen as the king of human endeavor, the foundation of human thought, and the pinnacle of human achievement.
As with all kings, however, its reign must eventually come to an end. The technology which has validated science for so many centuries has been a blessing, making life longer, more pleasant, and more productive than it has ever been. Now, however, technology is becoming less and less a faithful servant, and is beginning to show signs of becoming the cruel master that we somehow always feared it would.
While this is happening, the most fundamental theories of science are beginning to show early signs of disarray. Scientists themselves disagree, seem unsure, and even contradict each other. The epitome of all this is the relativity-versus-quantum dichotomy, but there are many mundane examples as well.
Moreover, the gap between scientists and nonscientists is swiftly widening. Our familiar everyday experiences of reality are bearing less and less resemblance to the formulas of physics. Indeed, matters have become so unsettled that some physicists have actually gone so far as to ask, do we exist?
Finally, the formulas of physics have become inaccessible to the vast majority of humans. We cannot hope to understand them. The intricate squiggles and symbols that fill up the chalk board of the physics classroom are beyond my intellect, and utterly beyond the ken of most people. Even people of great intellect may have other interests that fill their time. Even they simply cannot put in the decade or more of years required for a PhD in physics, and cannot spend the thousands of dollars it costs.
According to a physicist who posted at sci.physicsforums.com,
Nikola Tesla wrote: “Today's scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality."
Finally, the grand priests of physics do not even agree among themselves on many important aspects of what physics teaches us about the universe. Is science unraveling?
Science cannot answer questions which it cannot ask, and we may be inherently incapable of asking the most important questions.
How could it be otherwise? If humans are the products of nature, then how can the subset comprehend the whole?
In my self-published book, [i]The God Paradigm[/i], I maintain that, until science explains consciousness, it has explained nothing.
I also maintain that the explanation of consciousness may be beyond physics altogether. Even the atheist evolutionist JBS Haldane conceded that the answer is not material. He said, “It seems to me immensely unlikely that mind is a mere by-product of matter. For if my mental processes are determined wholly by the motions of atoms in my brain I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true. They may be sound chemically, but that does not make them sound logically. And hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms.”
Haldane probably meant “mind,” rather than “brain,” but his insight is important. His statement, whether he intended the inference or not, strongly suggests that the nature of consciousness is fundamental, not phenomenal. If so, then consciousness is not a physical emanation of atoms, but rather a spiritual property, a realm that is forever beyond the domain of material science.
