Any one else here obsessed with physics?

[watersprite]

as I have men mentioned in another thread God speaks through nature, his language is mathematics, most notably statistical via distributions.

okay : )

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

For those who doubt this argument see U-tube video " Why no one has measured the speed of light".

 

[QuestJan]

I didn't do very well in a physics class I took, but I like the concept of it still, just not the actual math.

I'm no math genius either. I visualize in my head.so you are quite welcome to this thread

Thank you, @Ronald Zeeman - great thread. I was sneaking around in shame [it steps out of the shadow]. I have an MS degree without ever taking a math class in my life. But I love to think about it and visualize it.

Thank you to this thread for all of the suggested readings

And speaking of numbers...

[/QUOTE]

I read Sabina's Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray. I did not understand it well enough to discern if she had a good point or not but she was persuasive, nonetheless

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Yes, I have watched some of her videos, all the top physicists believe in string theory which she is a strong critic of. They all are slowly getting edge on their faces much like during the end of the eighteen hundreds when the majority believed in the either, history repeats. Zero proof for super symmetry is looking worse by the day, loop quantum gravity is where I would place my bet.

 

[QuestJan]

all the top physicists believe in string theory which she is a strong critic of. They all are slowly getting edge on their faces much like during the end of the eighteen hundreds when the majority believed in the either, history repeats.

The rather thin boundary b/t religion & science fails when beliefs get in the way of inquiry. I've wiped my hands clean of religion altogether. Curiosity must be the driving force of science, not prestige.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I have been a life long agnostic, belief in science is the way to go, the catholic church learned that the hard way a few times.

 

[Au Naturel]

Thank you, @Ronald Zeeman - great thread. I was sneaking around in shame [it steps out of the shadow]. I have an MS degree without ever taking a math class in my life. But I love to think about it and visualize it.

Thank you to this thread for all of the suggested readings

And speaking of numbers...

I read Sabina's Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray. I did not understand it well enough to discern if she had a good point or not but she was persuasive, nonetheless[/QUOTE]

I love her YouTube videos. Sometimes she can be a contrarian. Also love "PBS Spacetime," if you've ever seen it.

 

[Au Naturel]

All the top physicists do not necessarily believe in string theory.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Other than Lee Smolin and Carlos Rovelli, I would love to hear of an alternative theory to string theory that is taken seriously. and the name of the person pushing it with any credibility. At the moment Loop Quantum gravity appears to be the only credible alternative. Some theory that has some backing by experimenta evidence.
No more crazy off the wall theories for me.

 

[Au Naturel]

Other than Lee Smolin and Carlos Rovelli, I would love to hear of an alternative theory to string theory that is taken seriously. and the name of the person pushing it with any credibility. At the moment Loop Quantum gravity appears to be the only credible alternative. Some theory that has some backing by experimenta evidence.
No more crazy off the wall theories for me.

I wouldn't confuse the lack of a lot of alternatives with having confidence that the theory you have is the right one. I'd classify string theory as high-quality speculation. It suffers from the problem that they keep having to modify it to keep it alive as a contender. And from complete inability to test it experimentally. Some thoughts from another of my favorite physicists:

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I do not have a personal theory, just what I can visualize in my head, string theory is BS. which we can agree on.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I do not have a personal theory, just what I can visualize in my head, string theory is BS. which we can agree on.

I really enjoy Peter Woit's Blog and would highly recommend following it

 

[QuestJan]

I have been a life long agnostic, belief in science is the way to go, the catholic church learned that the hard way a few times.

I am a possibilian.

I believe in the results of open scientific inquiry. In regards to the vast abyss which we cannot yet measure, I can believe whatever floats my boat.

"Our ignorance of the cosmos is too vast to commit to atheism, and yet we know too much to commit to a particular religion. A third position, agnosticism, is often an uninteresting stance in which a person simply questions whether one's traditional religious story (say, a man with a beard on a cloud) is true or not true. But with Possibilianism I'm hoping to define a new position — one that emphasizes the exploration of new, unconsidered possibilities. Possibilianism is comfortable holding multiple ideas in mind; it is not interested in committing to any particular story."[3]

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I do not believe absolute length exists , two weeks ago I was discussing this with my son he asked a question if so how can they measure the speed of light so accurately curiously I checked this out. I quickly found the Einstein convention. the speed of light can only be measured in one direction makes you wonder. life is not as simple as it looks.

 

[QuestJan]

life is not as simple as it looks.

That's exactly what gets me out of bed every morning - hahaha!!

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Peter Woit, just updated his blog.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

For those interested, Peter Woits blog's is definitely the source for seeing what is going on in the worlds of mathematics and physics if you are not mathematically gifted.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

I love it when my daughter tells me things she learned in Physics that day. She's explained things like magnetic conductors or the doppler effect to me, with wide sparkling eyes full of excitement, as if she had just discovered one of the secrets of the universe.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I have been seeking the secrets of the universe since I was probably your daughters age, the secret is do not lose your curiosity I remember when being young and reading curious George, telling my self never lose my sense of curiosity.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Every major break through in physics in the last hundred. years has been by a person of vision using what at the time was an obscure branch of mathematics. For Einstein it was non-Euclidean geometry, with Heisenberg it was Matrices, for Gell-Mann it was group theory.
the Math probably already exists for the next big break though, just waiting a a unique person to make the connection. Talking about weird mathematics for those not following mathematics, "Check out Monster Moon shine".