“This sounds like people complaining about string theory today. It could have easily been written by many physicists, but of course, it actually was written by Aristotle. He was so upset that the idea that mathematics, which is just a tool, should become a real descriptor of the universe.”
sputnikintelligence.com
In a live lecture tracing ideas about empty space, Krauss had just read aloud a line from Aristotle complaining that philosophy had turned into mathematics. He draws a parallel to modern complaints about string theory, where elegant math runs ahead of observation.
…Kepler, the music of the spheres, the fact that the planets might be, their relationship might be related to the musical instruments, musical notes, in exact harmony. And consider the modern statement, which one could say is a modern statement. Philosophy has turned into mathematics for present-day thinkers, despite their claim that mathematics is to be treated as a means to some other end. This sounds like people complaining about string theory today. It could have easily been written by many physicists, but of course, it actually was written by Aristotle. He was so upset that the idea that mathematics, which is just a tool, should become a real descriptor of the universe. And in this case, a descriptor of the universe that goes against empirical observation. Oh, well, the debate continued. Okay, so we've got water, we've got nothingness, but the debate didn't end there. And the big question was: is it present when normal matter isn't? Is there a void? Most of the universe seems to be dark and empty. And so the question is: is it full of stuff and is that stuff…
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