String Theory

ECA

I am a FH squatter
Joined
Dec 23, 2003
Messages
9,439
Isn't this to do with cats and women? If you dangle something in front of them and keep taking away it keeps them interested but if you give it to them they walk away.

And no the "dangled" object doesn't have to be tangible so no badum tish jokes you goits.
 

Paradroid

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Jan 2, 2004
Messages
645
There's a good 3 part programme called The Elegant Universe that takes you from Newton to strings. I suppose calling them strings is just a bit of abstract nonsense since we cant see them, they might as well be called tiny vibrating Elvis's.

I liked the membrane hypothesis, and the theory that our big-bangs are regular occurances caused by the parallel universes smacking against each other.

When I think about the scale of the universe, it makes me feel small - all these other dimensions don't help alleviate that feeling much. :eek7:
 

rynnor

Rockhound
Moderator
Joined
Dec 26, 2003
Messages
9,353
String theory is just the latest in a series of theories that didn't hold up - we talk blithely of quantum physics yet all it is is a bunch of mathematical tools that have been invented to explain what we see in experiments or in other theories - we still have no idea about the true nature of neutrons/electrons etc. - a lot of high sounding theories come out from time to time and then get shot down and this is just another one.

We are still a long way from a single theory that actually encompasses all the experimental data and that more importantly allows us to predict things that can be experimentally verified - thats the key - until such a point we are just arguing over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

Still it sounds good and makes interesting graphics - its sad how many people believe that the 'planets orbiting round the sun' representation is actually reality - its sufficient for chemists but other experiments have shown us that reality is far more complicated.
 

Trem

Not as old as he claims to be!
Moderator
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
9,293
I'm interested in this sort of thing. But I ultimately come to the conclusion that none of it really matters. Infact there isn't much that matters at all.

We are just here for the ride :D
 

Trem

Not as old as he claims to be!
Moderator
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
9,293
*bucks*





*succumbs*
 

Catsby

One of Freddy's beloved
Joined
Apr 21, 2004
Messages
249
rynnor said:
we talk blithely of quantum physics yet all it is is a bunch of mathematical tools that have been invented to explain what we see in experiments or in other theories - we still have no idea about the true nature of neutrons/electrons etc.

Catsby would (blithely) like to point out that physics is the application of mathematics to model the world around us. Catsby knows that theories are proved or disproved by using the theory to predict yet unkown features of the universe, or disproved by actual occurances that contradict the theory.

Yet Catsby does not understand the "true" nature of cheese, nor does he expect to as it's a silly question indeed.
 

Wij

I am a FH squatter
Joined
Dec 23, 2003
Messages
18,185
Catsby said:
Catsby would (blithely) like to point out that physics is the application of mathematics to model the world around us. Catsby knows that theories are proved or disproved by using the theory to predict yet unkown features of the universe, or disproved by actual occurances that contradict the theory.

Yet Catsby does not understand the "true" nature of cheese, nor does he expect to as it's a silly question indeed.

'tis. Physics should not be metaphysics.
 

rynnor

Rockhound
Moderator
Joined
Dec 26, 2003
Messages
9,353
Catsby said:
Catsby knows that theories are proved or disproved by using the theory to predict yet unkown features of the universe, or disproved by actual occurances that contradict the theory.

Thats the problem - none of the theories are consistent with everything we have observed and simultaneously allow us to predict things - thus they are wrong.

We are still at the 'the world is flat' stage in quantum physics.
 

tRoG

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
1,440
My completely uneducated mind still thinks that quantum physics is a load of cock.
 

rynnor

Rockhound
Moderator
Joined
Dec 26, 2003
Messages
9,353
tRoG said:
My completely uneducated mind still thinks that quantum physics is a load of cock.

The mathematical tools developed in quantum mechanics allow us to create nuclear power stations/nuclear bombs and lasers so they do have practical applications - there just isnt a unifying theory that says why these things are as they are - the sub-atomic world appears incredibly strange - possibly because we are missing something fundamental.
 

Catsby

One of Freddy's beloved
Joined
Apr 21, 2004
Messages
249
rynnor said:
The mathematical tools developed in quantum mechanics allow us to create nuclear power stations/nuclear bombs and lasers so they do have practical applications - there just isnt a unifying theory that says why these things are as they are - the sub-atomic world appears incredibly strange - possibly because we are missing something fundamental.
Catsby hopes you are not expecting to "understand the nature" of anything if a unifying theory is discovered, as Catsby promises you it will be only expressable in mathematics and you still won't understand the meaning of cheese.
If Catsby were to discover a unifying theory, it won't explain why things are the way they are, it will just accurately model them.
 

Chilly

Balls of steel
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
9,046
I studied quantum theory and there are two sides to it. First you get something like Schrodingers equation - which is basicly correct. But then you get the solutions to it. Now the solutions can give rise to all sorts of things depending on who you listen to, there are a few main interpretations of them. Many worlds theory - a universe for every discrete quantum decision ever made - thats lots^lots. And there is the copenhagen interpretation. The copenhagen version states that all sorts of really fucked up things happen - none of which actually make any sense and are probably impossible.

Neither parties claim their intepretations to be the truth - they just happen to fit the solutions to the wave equation - we only stick with them now because we cannot think of anything better. Give it 20 years and something else will come along - probably due to new evidence from the fucking huge particle accelerators that keep getting built.

Whatever you believe about quantum theory/dynamics now *will* have changed in the not too distant future. None of it is accurate, merely "roughly fits, we cant think of owt better".
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom