Φιλοσοφικό Τηλεγράφημα: Αρχές Ω, αυτές οι αρχές…

Όπου κι αν κοιτάξουμε, οι ίδιοι κανόνες ισχύουν παντού στο χώρο: αμέτρητοι υπολογισμοί της αστροφυσικής βασίζονται σε αυτήν τη βασική αρχή. Μια πρόσφατη μελέτη των Πανεπιστημίων της Βόννης και του Χάρβαρντ, ωστόσο, αμφισβήτησε αυτήν την αρχή. Εάν επιβεβαιωθούν οι τιμές που μετρήθηκαν, αυτό θα καταστήσει πολλές υποθέσεις σχετικά με τις ιδιότητες του σύμπαντος άχρηστες. Τα αποτελέσματα δημοσιεύονται στο περιοδικό Astronomy & Astrophysics, αλλά είναι ήδη διαθέσιμα στο διαδίκτυο. Από το Big Bang και μετά, το σύμπαν έχει πρηστεί σαν ένα φρέσκο ψωμάκι σε φούρνο. Μέχρι πρόσφατα, θεωρήθηκε ότι αυτή η αύξηση του μεγέθους συνέβαινε ομοιόμορφα προς όλες τις κατευθύνσεις, όπως και με μια καλή ζύμη. Οι αστροφυσικοί το αποκαλούν αυτό "ισοτροπία". Πολλοί υπολογισμοί σχετικά με τις θεμελιώδεις ιδιότητες του σύμπαντος βασίζονται σε αυτήν την υπόθεση. Είναι πιθανό ότι είναι όλοι λάθος - ή τουλάχιστον, ανακριβείς - χάρη στις συναρπαστικές παρατηρήσεις και αναλύσεις των επιστημόνων από τα Πανεπιστήμια της Βόννης και του Χάρβαρντ.

Γιατί δοκίμασαν την υπόθεση της ισοτροπίας για πρώτη φορά με μια νέα μέθοδο που επιτρέπει πιο αξιόπιστα αποτελέσματα από πριν. Και το αποτέλεσμα ήταν απροσδόκητο: Σύμφωνα με αυτήν τη μέθοδο, ορισμένες περιοχές στο διάστημα επεκτείνονται γρηγορότερα από ό,τι πρέπει, ενώ άλλες επεκτείνονται πιο αργά από το αναμενόμενο. "Σε κάθε περίπτωση, αυτό το συμπέρασμα προτείνεται από τις μετρήσεις μας", δηλώνει ο Κωνσταντίνος Μίγκας, από το Ινστιτούτο Αστρονομίας του Αργολάν στο Πανεπιστήμιο της Βόννης. [1]

Βασικές υποθέσεις.

Ισοτροπία.
Ομοιογένεια.
Τοπικότητα.

Μια επιστήμη που βασίζεται στη θρησκεία.
Μια θρησκεία που βασίζεται στο φόβο.
Ο άνθρωπος λατρεύει το Θεό.

Αρχές.
Αόρατες αρχές.
Καθοδηγούν το μυαλό μας.
Χτίζοντας έναν κόσμο καθρεφτών.
Μόνο επειδή φοβόμαστε.
Να γνωρίζουμε ότι είμαστε ο Θεός.
Και να σπάσουμε τον καθρέφτη.
Και να δούμε τον κόσμο πέρα από αυτόν.

Μη τοπικότητα.
Ανομοιογένεια.
Ανισοτροπία.

Η πιο βασική από όλες τις υποθέσεις.

Ότι χρειαζόμαστε υποθέσεις…

(c) Φιλοσοφικά Τηλεγραφήματα - Φιλοσοφικός σχολιασμός της επικαιρότητας…

Philosophy Wire: Shouldn’t be there…

As if black holes weren't mysterious enough, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found an unexpected thin disk of material furiously whirling around a supermassive black hole at the heart of the magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 3147, located 130 million light-years away. The conundrum is that the disk shouldn't be there, based on current astronomical theories. [1] Based on theories we shape what the cosmos looks like. And if there is a discrepancy, we either change the theories (more difficult) or reshape the cosmos (easy, since we are gods). But we miss the point. For whatever can easily – or difficulty – change should not be there in the first place. Look at the galaxy again. Look at the black hole. They are both where they should be. You aren't…

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Phantom planets… Phantom lives…

Collective gravity (bumper car-like interactions at the edges of our solar system) - and not a mysterious ninth planet - may explain the dynamics of strange bodies called 'detached objects,' according to a new study. [1] One planet. Many planets. No planet. All the same. One parallel. Infinite parallels. No parallels. All the same. Awake. Sleeping. Dead. Alive… Wandering in the vast cold space… Near the rings of Saturn… Eating his kids… Making the cosmos come alive from within death…

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: An elegant universe. An ugly universe. A calm lake.

In a 1963 essay recalling his role in discovering the strange-but-true laws of quantum theory, Paul Dirac wrote “it is more important to have beauty in one’s equations than to have them fit experiment”. That might sound odd. Experiment, after all, is the ultimate arbiter of an equation’s ability to explain natural phenomena. But for a theoretical physicist like Dirac, experiments could be misled: only beauty was incorruptible. An almost religious devotion to beauty remains commonplace among theorists of fundamental physics, even if the standards of attractiveness have changed over time. But what if the universe is not a beautiful place? [1] A seemingly valid question. But essentially pointless. Beauty is not something external. Beauty is always on the inside, created and sustained not by anyone else but our self. The simplest the theory the more beautiful. The less stones you through into the water, the calmer its surface will be. And then and only then, will you be able to see the cause of everything in it. Reflected on the quiet surface, you see yourself. The ocean is rough now. Waves rippling through its surface. But deep inside the abyss, the sea is still beautiful. As in that very first day when you started throwing rocks in it…

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: From the DNA to epigenome. Analysis and further analysis: The (useless) history of modern science.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2017-08-16]: Scientists have established comprehensive maps of the human epigenome. [1] So? After that it is certain that we will discover something else which also affects humans. And after that something else. And something else after that too. Like atoms the analysis of which never ends (every year we discover a new particle), the analysis of the factors affecting humans will never end. No matter how hard we dig, we will always discover new things. The only way to get out of this hole we have dug is to go back to the Beginning. Put the dirt back. Take a breath. Wonder: Why are you digging?

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Alzheimer’s disease. With no memory loss… Science. Without freedom of thought…

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2017-08-04]: A small number of people maintain razor-sharp memories into their 90s, despite having brains chock-full of the plaques and tangles linked to Alzheimer’s disease. [1] For proper scientists only ONE counterexample is sufficient to dissolve the current theory. But modern dogmatic science and medicine are not satisfied with just one. The counter-example will be refined and analyzed until it finally fits into the small boxes that we have in our minds based on what we think we know. The main objective: to maintain the existing theory, whereas the opposite should be the main objective of all true researchers. Only via the continuous dissolution of existing theories can science progress. Once we knew how to think. Now we just... try to discover what is right. Now we just... do science.

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Warming up. Shrinking. Disbelieving all “known things”.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2015-12-11]: Most materials swell when warm, and shrink when cool. But some weird materials do the opposite. [1] Black swans are everywhere. Wherever there is a rule, somewhere somehow we will discover its opposite. Whenever something happens, somewhere somehow happens the exact opposite. One can believe nothing at the end. As in “everything”.

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Evolution: Defining life!

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2015-11-26]: Scientists claim that viruses are living organisms! Because we can trace back the evolution of their genes. [1]  Again: Because a specific scientific theory can analyze something, we consider it… alive!!

Wow.

Science creating life!
What we cannot understand is dead. Literally!

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Theory of Evolution without evolution. A paspartu to all truths...

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2015-02-25]: Wedged inside rocks in the deep sea off the coast of Western Australia lurks an organism that hasn’t evolved in more than 2 billion years, scientists say. And this seems to be in accordance with the Theory of Evolution. [1] Eveything is compatible with any theory. Because every theory has exceptions. Name things carefully and you will discover that the truth is where you began from: inside your mind.

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Brain, analysis, context…

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-04-19]: Scientists analyze brain activity. [1] They think they find things but they forget something very fundamental: Observations are always interpreted by a brain. Their brain, the patient's brain, my brain, your brain. How can you interpret what you think by thinking? Circular antithesis. Self-reference. The essence of our existence. Our curse and our wisdom at the same time. Let's accept them...

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…