science:
origins
&
limits
can science eventually know everything?
two senses of ‘everything’ :
i.
every true proposition
can science eventually know everything?
two senses of ‘everything’ :
E = mc2
ii.
all the fundamental laws of physics
practical limits
1.
we’re not smart enough
List of unsolved problems in physics [Wikipedia]
Why does time have a direction? Is the universe heading towards a Big
Freeze, a Big Rip, a Big Crunch, or a Big Bounce? Or is it part of an
infinitely recurring cyclic model? Does a multiverse exist? Why is there
far more matter than antimatter in the observable universe? What is the
identity of dark matter? What is the cause of the observed accelerated
expansion (de Sitter phase) of the universe? Can quantum mechanics
and general relativity be realized as a fully consistent theory? Does
nature have more than four spacetime dimensions? Why is gravity such
a weak force? Why is it that some cosmic rays appear to possess
practical limits
2.
the universe has bottomless levels
I believe that scientific knowledge has fractal properties; that no
matter how much we learn, whatever is left, however small it
may seem, is just as infinitely complex as the whole was to
start with.
[Isaac Asimov]
intrinsic limits
1.
i.
Gödel’s incompleteness theorems [1931]
every mathematical system complex enough to include
arithmetic contains theorems that cannot be proved true or
false within the system.
[Gardner,
354]
ii.
the system cannot demonstrate its own consistency.
intrinsic limits
like
Tarski's undefinability theorem [1936]
arithmetical truth cannot be defined in arithmetic. the
theorem applies more generally to any sufficiently strong formal
system, showing that truth in the standard model of the
system cannot be defined within the system.
[Wikipedia]
intrinsic limits
2.
any theory involves axioms, or “brute facts”
Why does Earth go around
the sun? Because it obeys
the laws of gravity. Why are
there laws of gravity?
Because, Einstein revealed,
large masses distort spacetime, causing objects to
move along geodesic paths.
Why do objects take
geodesic paths? Because
they are the shortest paths
through space-time. Why do
objects take the shortest
paths?
[Gardner, p 355]
the endless regress
a Theory
of Everything:
Superstring Theory
The multitude of fundamental
particles are in fact differing
vibrations of one-dimensional
“strings”.
[google that, to see her
is copyraawt ]
- image
Dalí Galatea of
the Spheres, 1952
reductionism
reductionism
Dalí Galatea of the Spheres, 1952
reductionism
Dalí Galatea of the Spheres, 1952
Even if quantum mechanics
becomes “explained” as part of a
deeper theory - call it X - as
Einstein believed it eventually
would be, then we can ask “Why
X?” There is no escape from the
superultimate questions: Why is
there something rather than
nothing, and why is that
something structured the way
it is?
[Gardner, p. 355]
sphere of knowledge
“My Design in
this Book
is not to explain the Properties of
Light by Hypotheses, but to
propose and prove them by Reason
and Experiments.”
]
awe before
the
mystery
dark matter filaments passing thru Jupiter
[ illustration: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, CalTech ]
awe before
the
mysterium:
[Rudolph Otto, 1917]
The Lord Reveals His Cosmic Form
The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 11
PHL110:
Roland Puccetti’s problem [1963]:
how would G know that it knows
everything?
the problem of unknown
unknowns
Yahweh
PHL923:
Jung’s Answer to Job [1952]
science:
origins
&
limits
the first scientist?
the first scientist?
Natural
Philosophy
Philosophy
Of
Nature
the first scientist?
:coined by William Whewell in 1833
Hesiod
Tell
[750-650 B.C]
me these things,
Olympian Muses, from the
beginning, and tell which of
them came first. In the
beginning there was only
Chaos, the Abyss, but then
Gaia, the Earth, came into
being. Her broad bosom, the
ever-firm foundation of all,
and Tartaros, dim in the
underground Depths, and
Eros, loveliest of all the
immortals.
the One:
unchanging & indivisible
Parmenides
[6th c B.C.]
and
the goddess greeted me kindly, and took my right
hand in hers, and spake to me these words:
nor let much-experienced habit
force you along this path, to ply
an aimless eye and resounding
ear and tongue, but judge by
logos
Zeno’s paradoxes
The Dichotomy
That which is in locomotion must arrive at the half-way
stage before it arrives at the goal.
Aristotle, Physics VI:9, 239b10
Thales [624 – 546 B.C.]
“All is Water”
unity in diversity
physical reductionism
Anaximander [610 – 546 BC]
Why doesn’t it fall?
vs
Why would it fall?
Socratic wisdom:
knowing you don’t
the temple at Delphi
Reality
vs
appearance
R
a
p
h
a
e
l,
T
h
e
S
c
h
o
o
l
o
f
A
t
h
e
n
Plato [428-424 BC]
Reality
vs
Plato’s Cave
appearance
Aristotle: [384-322 BC]
the
specialization of knowledge
Physics
On the Heavens On Generation and Corruption
Meteorology On the Universe
On the Soul
On Memory
On Sleep
On Dreams
Politics
Rhetoric
On
Divination in Sleep History of Animals Movement of Animals
Categories
Poetics
Physiognomics
On Plants
On
Marvellous Things Heard Mechanics On Indivisible Lines
Parts of Animals On Colors Economics On Interpretation
A conceptual and historico-linguistic analysis of a
definition like mass is the quantity of matter would
show us that whatever was and is understood by these
words owes much to the fact that the concepts of
quantity and of matter were for two millennia inculcated
into the minds of men and into their languages, more than
in any other way, through the agency of Aristotle's
Categories, Physics, and Metaphysics. If energy means
something when we read it in the formula e = mc2 we
may forget that this "linguistic" tool is the creation of
Aristotle . . . . And if potential has assumed so many
uses - from social and military contexts to electricity,
dynamics, and what not - is it not because we have
been trained to handle this term as an indispensable
instrument to describe an infinite variety of situations that
have something in common, as Aristotle repeated ad
nauseam, when making "potency" one of the basic
concepts for the understanding of the structure of the
world? We have used, misused, abused, eliminated, and
reinstated the concepts of substance and essence.
Relation and analogy, form, cause, alteration of
qualities, and development from potentiality to
actuality are all terms that have not yet stopped serving
their purpose.
[from the Gillespie Dictionary of Scientific Biography, 1970-1980]
science:
origins
&
limits
99
:
free animal
1
free animal
:
1
human
: 99
: human +
livestock
‘the City’
Tuttle, “Reductionist Science and Religion”
pasadosafehaven.org
herding culture:
:based on control & commodification of animals
:its religion & science both reductionist
reductionism
“analysis”
from PIE root *leu- "to loosen, divide, cut apart"
reductionism
“vivisection”
an estimate: 115
million animals per year, worldwide
The Peter Gilgan Centre,
Sick Kids Hospital
Maternal-pup interaction disturbances induce longlasting changes in the newborn rat pulmonary
vasculature. Jaques Belik et al. Am J Physiol Lung Cell
Mol Physiol, 2015
from a study on cardiac injury in neonatal mice:
Briefly, P1 or P7 pups were randomized and anaesthetized
by hypothermia for 5 min prior to thoracotomy. To induce
MI, the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery
was ligated with a 6–0 non-absorbable polypropylene
suture (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, USA). For apical
resection, the apex of the heart was resected using fine
scissors. [1
the mice "were allowed to recover under a heat lamp before
being returned to their mother." they "were sacrificed 1 or 3
weeks after surgery by decapitation according to approved
protocols and hearts were collected for analysis.“ 1
1 Ezh2 is not required for cardiac regeneration in neonatal mice. PLoS One. 2018 Feb 21.
Ronald Cohn et al. Maintaining skeletal muscle
mass: lessons learned from hibernation. Exp
Physiol, 2014
"We analysed the molecular pathways upregulated
during hibernation in an obligate hibernator, the 13lined ground squirrel . . . . We extended our
observations to non-hibernating animals and
demonstrated that SGK1-null mice developed
muscle atrophy. These mice displayed an
exaggerated response to immobilization and
starvation."
from a study on fear and the mammal brain:
Mice were trained with a single foot shock (0.4 mA, Training), and 24hrs later
tested (Test 1). Twenty-four hrs after the Test 1, the mice received systemic
injections of MEM (50 mg/kg body weight (bw)) or vehicle (VEH) once a week
for four weeks (MEM-4 or VEH group). Another group received an injection of
MEM only 24hr after Test 1 (MEM-1 group). Contextual fear memory was
assessed again four weeks after initial training (Test 2). All groups displayed
comparable and high freezing response levels during Test 1. In contrast, the
MEM-1 and -4 groups showed reduced freezing compared to the VEH group in
Test 2 (Figure 1A), although this reduction was only statistically significant in
the MEM-4 group. These observations were consistent with previous findings
(Akers et al., 2014), and indicated that post-training MEM treatment enhanced
forgetting in a dose-dependent manner.1
1 Hippocampal neurogenesis enhancers promote forgetting of remote fear memory
after hippocampal reactivation by retrieval. Elife. 2016 Sep 26.
Temple Grandin slaughterhouse
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The command of Allah is coming, so be not impatient for it.
Exalted is He and high above what they associate with Him
He sends down the angels, with the inspiration of His command,
upon whom He wills of His servants, [telling them], "Warn that there
is no deity except Me; so fear Me.“
He created the heavens and earth in truth. High is He above
what they associate with Him.
He created man from a sperm-drop; then at once, he is a clear
adversary.
And the grazing livestock He has created for you; in them is
warmth and [numerous] benefits, and from them you eat.
[An-Nahl, 1-5]
S
a
u
l
t
a
k
e
s
p
ri
s
o
n
e
r
s
a
n
d
c
a
tt
l
e
[
M
o
r
g
And they were helped
against them, and the
Hagarites were delivered
into their hand, and all that
were with them: for they
cried to God in the battle,
and he was intreated of
them; because they put
their trust in him.
And they took away their
cattle; of their camels fifty
thousand, and of sheep
two hundred and fifty
thousand, and of asses
two thousand, and of men
an hundred thousand.
[1 Chronicles 5:20-21]
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