Re: [asa] The Multiverse - Physics or Metaphysics?

Pim, you wrote:

> Rather than rely on some really irrelevant statements by individual
> scientists, whether it be Dawkins or some physicist opposed to string
> theory, one should attempt a larger view of science.

and in a prior post you wrote:

> Ah but the fact that the most successful cosmology also predicts
> multiverses makes the concept quite a bit more interesting than a 'x
> did it' ad hoc explanation.

If I understood, you are referring to string theory as "the most successful cosmology."? I would caution care here, because string theory has not made any testable predictions and so it is dubious that it can claim any success at all.? It has been formulated to be consistent with what we know in nature, but in trying to make it consistent, so many unobservable dimensions and extra degrees of freedom had to be put into the theory ad hoc that it ended up predicting this "string landscape" that is so large that now you can get any answer imaginable and not just what we observe.? If the?theory has to give you every possible answer in order to also give you the one right answer, then it is questionable that it is really a useful theory at all.? This is why it has been called into question by many leading scientists.? You could have produced the same result using any other framework other than strings.? I hope you are aware of this.? There are many ways to formulate a framework tha
 t can include everything we know plus a lot more.? Simply keep adding unobservable degrees of freedom until the framework allows the right answer.? The key to science is Occam's razor in which the fewest number of ad hoc assumptions gives you the correct answer.? So the critique on string theory is exactly correct, as many scientists have formulated it.

Another friendly critique:? You characterized this critique as "some irrelevant statements by individual scientists."? You should be aware that these critiques are by leading scientists, and not just by one or two.? I am a working physicist and I spend all my time around other physicists.? I have never yet met anybody that said they support string theory.? I know that there are some significant groups who really believe in string theory.? But please be aware that its detractors are not simply "some...individual scientists."? I have the feeling that the majority of physicists are dubious of string theory, and that it is more popular with non-physicists.

I support vigorous research in string theory as a branch of _mathematics_.? You mention "a larger view of science."? I can support the idea that there might be a multiverse, because I agree with your observation that we don't know the mind of God.? He hasn't revealed so much to us.? So I have no problem with a larger view of _nature_.? But a larger view of _science_ is dangerous if it requires abandoning experiment as our guide.? Experiment is the whole basis of science, and without it we are discarding science itself.? I think you would probably agree, right?? You probably meant something different than this, right?? :)

Phil

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Received on Sun Sep 9 15:33:51 2007