tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post9061938475910066168..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: No, physicists have no fear of math. But they should have more respect.Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-13376976782549398432016-12-16T04:48:46.338-05:002016-12-16T04:48:46.338-05:00When you write:
In lack of experimental guidance...When you write: <br /><br />In lack of experimental guidance, what we need in the foundations of physics is conceptual clarity. We need rigorous math, not claims to experience, intuition, and aesthetic appeal. Don’t be afraid, but we need more math.<br /><br />I could not agree with you more. But here I second P. Dirac who was pointing out conceptual problems within the existing physical theoriesVladimir Kalitvianskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16310670038267361671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-27205993537247629772016-12-11T06:18:40.478-05:002016-12-11T06:18:40.478-05:00Thanks so much for your response to my correlation...Thanks so much for your response to my correlation question, Bea. What you've written is helpful. I'd love to get more specific on this issue, however, because I'm really curious regarding your thoughts on the manner in which statistical analyses can be used to produce artifacts driven by confirmation bias as well as legitimate correlations. But I do understand your situation and won&DocGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17359004200002936544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-47290087013054712772016-12-11T01:00:20.627-05:002016-12-11T01:00:20.627-05:00DocG,
I am afraid I have to tell you that it is e...DocG,<br /><br />I am afraid I have to tell you that it is entirely correct what you have been told. Data can contain correlations that don't reveal themselves to the eyes and only a statistical analysis will pin them down. <br /><br />Incidentally, my <a href="http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2016/12/no-physicists-have-no-fear-of-math-but.html" rel="nofollow">previous post</a> discussed Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-53485017825932004192016-12-10T16:09:59.085-05:002016-12-10T16:09:59.085-05:00Thanks so much, Bea, for your very thoughtful and ...Thanks so much, Bea, for your very thoughtful and reasonable response to my query re climate change. I understand your reluctance to go into detail on this topic, but I have a question regarding an essentially technical issue that comes up when I attempt to analyze certain types of data. As you know, there are various graphs now available that track global temperatures during various time periodsDocGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17359004200002936544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-31244320433813914702016-12-10T12:02:30.762-05:002016-12-10T12:02:30.762-05:00Respect: I find it useful to look at the existing ...Respect: I find it useful to look at the existing equations of physics - say a solution of the Einstein Equation - and ask myself what are the consequences of letting the solution taking you where it wants to go, rather than limiting it with community beliefs and unproven conjecture. Tom Andersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17562906116020498110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-57880428708147027892016-12-10T06:22:34.629-05:002016-12-10T06:22:34.629-05:00SE Grimm,
Not all mathematical tools are designed...SE Grimm,<br /><br />Not all mathematical tools are designed to simplify reality. Some of them weren't designed for anything in particular, they were just found to be useful. And it's more about describing reality, though in practice that often implies simplification. <br /><br />I don't think I'll contribute to that essay, I don't find the question very interesting. Best,<br Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-68101648209896320952016-12-10T05:41:36.944-05:002016-12-10T05:41:36.944-05:00@Sabine,
I know, a blog is not a paper, but I mis...@Sabine,<br /><br />I know, a blog is not a paper, but I miss an aspect about mathematics (in relation to physics). Nearly all the mathematical tools are designed to simplify reality. That’s why mathematics is extremely successful when applied to phenomenological physics (the relations between phenomena). However, if we want to describe the foundations of physics – reality at the most fundamentalSydney Ernest Grimmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00290346316355388367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-59254147983371121202016-12-10T03:05:36.079-05:002016-12-10T03:05:36.079-05:00Well, you don't have to put everyone in the sa...Well, you don't have to put everyone in the same sack, there are good theorists who are not afraid of math indeed and there are many bad ones who are.<br /><br />Besides that math and physics are two different worlds in terms of formalism and terminology, physicists often loosely talk about physical concepts without even knowing their mathematical counterparts and the surrounding Giotishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01538762241438887298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-66603507471805151362016-12-10T01:34:13.497-05:002016-12-10T01:34:13.497-05:00DocG,
Yes, it's clearly off-topic, but I thin...DocG,<br /><br />Yes, it's clearly off-topic, but I think I should answer this question. I have never written about climate change and I very rarely touch political questions. The reason is that on most matters I don't think I have anything to say that hasn't been said a million times by other people already. <br /><br />I also seem to be the theorist all through, meaning I care more Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-13529140318613453462016-12-10T00:07:19.445-05:002016-12-10T00:07:19.445-05:00Bea, this is totally off topic -- but as far as I ...Bea, this is totally off topic -- but as far as I can tell, you've never posted on what for many is THE number one scientific issue of our time, the question of anthropogenic climate change. I may have missed a post or two, so if I'm wrong, I'd appreciate it if you would correct me, and post the link. If I'm right, however, then it seems logical to conclude that you must be a DocGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17359004200002936544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-1535210448509911232016-12-09T13:44:48.463-05:002016-12-09T13:44:48.463-05:00Thank you for another interesting post, Dr. B. Jus...Thank you for another interesting post, Dr. B. Just an observation -- I much prefer "physics math" to "math math," whose odd symbols and ever-present unintelligible proofs represent a completely different language to me. I was trained in both physics and engineering, and I can assure you that whatever fear physicists might have of math, it's far worse for engineers. Maybe Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13243006930165511059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-56309148279823093622016-12-08T20:03:46.073-05:002016-12-08T20:03:46.073-05:00An ammonia molecular beam splits in an inhomogeneo...An ammonia molecular beam splits in an inhomogeneous electric field. Multipole selection of the population inversion into an ammonia maser is non-classically eerie. So what? Observation that only respects respected theory will be weak toward improvement and sterile toward discovery.Uncle Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05056804084187606211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-69938739218980411792016-12-08T19:00:04.176-05:002016-12-08T19:00:04.176-05:00I can read a paragraph of English almost at a glan...I can read a paragraph of English almost at a glance. I can understand a graph or a diagram with ease. But I find that to understand an equation, I have to copy it down on a piece of paper, so it has gone through my brain. My guess is that there are people who can absorb equations like I can absorb written English. Are there any studies of this? (When I was at last in Greece I looked forwardUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08363770435343791235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-34524552694575345292016-12-08T13:06:32.168-05:002016-12-08T13:06:32.168-05:00driod33,
It's logically impossible, there'...driod33,<br /><br />It's logically impossible, there's no jump in that argument. A theory without assumptions isn't a theory of anything. Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-85498864814421459602016-12-08T11:35:58.500-05:002016-12-08T11:35:58.500-05:00Sorry,never jump to conclusions due to personal th...Sorry,never jump to conclusions due to personal thoughts like that's impossible.driod33https://www.blogger.com/profile/06261803009438337363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-69614233900072277832016-12-08T10:44:11.292-05:002016-12-08T10:44:11.292-05:00an entirely self-consistent construction and yet n...<i>an entirely self-consistent construction and yet not have anything to do with reality</i> Sakharov conditions, matter in excess of antimatter, demand parity violation. Opposite shoes embed within mirror-asymmetric space (mount a left foot) with different energies. They vacuum free fall along divergent minimum action trajectories. Atom-scale emergent (unit cell) opposite shoes are visually Uncle Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05056804084187606211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-17591032739572911852016-12-08T09:34:56.125-05:002016-12-08T09:34:56.125-05:00driod33,
Every theory needs assumptions. The prob...driod33,<br /><br />Every theory needs assumptions. The problem isn't the existence of assumptions, the problem is the lack of clarity about what exactly is assumed and what follows from what. Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-60786640197219695042016-12-08T09:33:51.193-05:002016-12-08T09:33:51.193-05:00Matthew,
I explained here what physicists mean by...Matthew,<br /><br /><a href="http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2016/07/why-lhc-is-such-disappointment-delusion.html" rel="nofollow">I explained here what physicists mean by "naturalness"</a>.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-67226459199915173982016-12-08T08:51:04.156-05:002016-12-08T08:51:04.156-05:00Lack of "fine tuning" is an assumption y...Lack of "fine tuning" is an assumption yes. Naturalness seems more of an aesthetic judgement to me unless by this you mean 'naturalism' as in "all explanations must be physical". Lastly, philosophers too should make their assumptions explicit..Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03016608637645316849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-28639046474938737272016-12-08T08:11:40.108-05:002016-12-08T08:11:40.108-05:00Yes you should never make assumptions! I think som...Yes you should never make assumptions! I think some physicists might be afraid of what the maths suggests (like the many world's theory)and reject it due to personal reasons.driod33https://www.blogger.com/profile/06261803009438337363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-56429155997276285232016-12-08T07:51:06.061-05:002016-12-08T07:51:06.061-05:00Well ... philosophy is not a conceptual mud ... Well ... philosophy is not a conceptual mud ... Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07053643846148626100noreply@blogger.com