According to David Hume and a lot of philosophers, the laws of nature are contingent and can change.But why? Why have any consistency to anything? Why not have a gravitational force that changes constantly or a conservation law that works "most" of the time. — Benj96
Can you prove that the laws of physics are the only way the world can be?If the laws we see in the universe are the only laws that a universe can have this gives fuel to the deterministic philosophy in which things have to/ will occur a certain way rather than completely by chance. — Benj96
If the laws we see in the universe are the only laws that a universe can have.... — Benj96
the universe has many laws ... uncertainty principle — Benj96
If the laws we see in the universe are the only laws that a universe can have — Benj96
If the laws we see in the universe are the only laws that a universe can have this gives fuel to the deterministic philosophy in which things have to/ will occur a certain way rather than completely by chance. — Benj96
My guess : You can't have a dynamic universe without organization. And that requires a single whole system with lots of sub-functions. What we call "Laws" are merely structural patterns that link the parts into a whole system. Those inter-relationships are stable, but flexible, in order to allow change. So, the "consistency" of the universe is due to its logical structure, but the "dynamic" aspect of the universe is due to the energy (change) flowing through the structure, both physical and logical. On the macro level of human observation, large-scale structural change occurs via evolution. But on the quantum scale, and on the cosmic scale, the universe, as a system, remains essentially the same over time.But why? Why have any consistency to anything? Why not have a gravitational force that changes constantly or a conservation law that works "most" of the time. — Benj96
If the laws we see in the universe are the only laws that a universe can have this gives fuel to the deterministic philosophy in which things have to/ will occur a certain way rather than completely by chance. — Benj96
This is one of those times where you must ask yourself, "why ask why?". If the universe worked some other way, we'd still be asking why it doesn't work another way.Physics has shown us the universe has many laws or rules by which it operates; gravitational constant, conservation laws, uncertainty principle, thermodynamics etc.
But why? Why have any consistency to anything? Why not have a gravitational force that changes constantly or a conservation law that works "most" of the time. — Benj96
Those are the laws of physics, which do not necessarily mean laws of nature. — Wheatley
Can you prove that the laws of physics are the only way the world can be? — Wheatley
What right do we have to say that? — Mww
It's also a bit comparable to the quantum vacuum, where things really can pop into and out of existence. Maybe at root, order is just the thing that ordering minds can perceive within a universe that is more pluralistic. — Kenosha Kid
You might have better luck asking a scientist. Do you believe philosophy can answer these questions? — Wheatley
The problem that fundamental physics has is then to explain why just about everything gets cancelled, yet not absolutely everything — apokrisis
Physics has shown us the universe has many laws or rules by which it operates; gravitational constant, conservation laws, uncertainty principle, thermodynamics etc. — Benj96
There's no reason to think our limited model is the real thing. — fishfry
There's a forest somewhere, and in that forest are trees, and one of those trees has branches and leaves, and on one of those leaves there's a caterpillar. The caterpillar knows when it's night and when it's day. It knows to go toward what it likes to eat; and away from what likes to eat it. It knows, deep in its DNA, that someday it will ascend to become a beautiful butterfly.
In short: That caterpillar has a metaphysics. — fishfry
One, there could be higher levels of awareness and intelligence out there that are to us as we are to a caterpillar on a leaf. — fishfry
But why? Why have any consistency to anything? Why not have a gravitational force that changes constantly or a conservation law that works "most" of the time. — Benj96
I like this attitude, but we can ask if the real thing functions here as more than our expectation that we'll have to live in a different model. What I am thinking of here is the 'total model' of culture-world and not just mathematical physics. — Yellow Horse
There's a forest somewhere, and in that forest are trees, and one of those trees has branches and leaves, and on one of those leaves there's a caterpillar. The caterpillar knows when it's night and when it's day. It knows to go toward what it likes to eat; and away from what likes to eat it. It knows, deep in its DNA, that someday it will ascend to become a beautiful butterfly.
In short: That caterpillar has a metaphysics.
— fishfry
Good stuff! — Yellow Horse
One, there could be higher levels of awareness and intelligence out there that are to us as we are to a caterpillar on a leaf.
— fishfry
While I agree, I am fascinated by this analogy. This 'higher level intelligence' seems to have to exist for us (for our limited understanding) as a vague promise of more.
To really grasp what we mean by higher intelligence, it seems we'd have to already possess it. — Yellow Horse
Physics has shown us the universe has many laws or rules by which it operates; gravitational constant, conservation laws, uncertainty principle, thermodynamics etc — Benj96
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