On Sun, Jun 27, 2021, 11:59 PM Bruce Kellett <bhkellet...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 28, 2021 at 2:30 PM Jason Resch <jasonre...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> On Sun, Jun 27, 2021, 10:30 PM Bruce Kellett <bhkellet...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >>> On Mon, Jun 28, 2021 at 9:06 AM Jason Resch <jasonre...@gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> I don't fear it suddenly changing, but it's valid to ask why we should >>>> not fear it, or: why is the probability deemed low that the laws will stop >>>> working? >>>> >>> >>> >>> It is not really possible to give a probability estimate for things like >>> this because we have no data on which we could base such an estimate. >>> >> >> We can propose distributions and test them by comparing the predictions >> against current observations. >> > > One data point does not test a proposed distribution. > One data point can rule out many possibilities. Also, our universe provides many data points in terms of the many dimensionless constants. Tegmark has analyzed their distribution and found a statistically uniform distribution in their values. > The general working assumption is that things will continue as they are >>> unless there is some underlying instability or some external cause of >>> change. We have no evidence for any such instability in the nature of >>> space, or of the conservation laws. >>> >> >> This stability is what we should try to explain. You spoke of begging the >> question earlier. Here you are saying we should believe it is that way >> because we assume it is that way. >> > > > It is not begging the question because I am not using the assumption to > prove that the assumption is correct. It is merely an observation that the > usual assumption is that things do not change without reason or cause. > Science is based on just this assumption. Without it science would not be > possible. > No disagreement there, but if we can explain it rather than assume it, all the better. > This is essentially Newton's first law writ large. >>> >>> >>> Since empiricism is not logically required in the set of logically >>>> possible worlds, it is then a phenomenon we should try to explain. >>>> >>> >>> >>> Why should we ever be led to consider the set of all logically possible >>> worlds? I doubt that such a set can ever be well-defined. Current evidence >>> is against the existence of these other worlds -- we have evidence only for >>> our world. >>> >> >> What evidence is there that this is the only universe? >> > > There is evidence that there is this one universe. There is no evidence > that other universes exist. There might be theories and speculations to > that effect, but these are not evidence. > Evidence for theories that predict other universes is evidence of other universes. We've never tested the idea that 2-ton diamonds fall in gravitational fields, but because we accept the theory of gravity, we believe they would fall. If we don't accept consequences of theories when we haven't tested some outcome directly, then what's the point of having theories? > I can think of many theories and findings that suggest there are many, but >> I don't know if one piece of evidence suggesting there's only one. >> > > There is certainly evidence that there is this one universe. Other > universes are always merely theoretical conjectures. And those theories are > generally wrong. > Many of them are well supported by evidence. Jason > Bruce > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CAFxXSLSRijuy895utaYpxqKapmJ6aMJCOLk3p1n2GEe2ciY-cQ%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CAFxXSLSRijuy895utaYpxqKapmJ6aMJCOLk3p1n2GEe2ciY-cQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CA%2BBCJUgyzrjrKLb1O7HoBUAVhSgsdqrTHcz2Gzk%3DNcsoERST8A%40mail.gmail.com.
