Should Theoretical Physicists Answer to a Higher Power?

[MichaelVera]

Since the days of Einstein, theoretical physicists have been the pinnacle of intellectual attainment. Ever ready to provide the answer to science’s greatest problems, the theoretical physicist is determined to be valid only by other theoretical physicists.

The original theoretical physicists took data from early chemists and directly hypothesized how electricity or the universe itself might work, none too concerned for testing these hypothesis against logic and reasoning. If it was a new idea, and wasn’t overtly incorrect, it stood as a theory.

These days, theoretical physicists strive to provide their moniker for some keepsake particle, unit, or or theorem. The theoretical physicist generally never leaves the university setting; academically or professionally. They will produce paper after paper because they are expected to; they are required to. Whether or not the idea is good, the paper will be produced. They depend on their research paper to graduate with their title, having probably less than seven years total experience studying physics.

But are theoretical physicists actually the top of the cerebral food chain? Could Einstein have produced better theory had someone been available to check the logic behind his concepts? What might have happened if Maxwell was forced to bring his ideas before Pythagoras to ensure they were feasible?

Society’s greatest mathematical achievements have been handed down from philosophers. Mathematicians who choose to ignore logic and reasoning tend to go astray. You will know the fruit of their labors because they will solve nothing. String Theory would be a prime example.

It is my contention that there should be General Philosophers to act as logicians for Theoretical Physicists, to keep their hypothesis logical. Without underlying logic, any idea is simply “fun to think about,” but of no lasting use.

Please consider reading advertising link removed by moderator which uses logic to push ideas forward. These ideas have the potential to resolve existing problems in physics, and to open new ideas and hypothesis. We have a lot farther to go in physics, especially with electricity, than we were able to achieve in the mid-1800s.

We need to expand our understanding of “magnetism” and “potential energy.”

Edited November 18, 2021 by Phi for All
No advertising, please.

[Phi for All]

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Moderator Note

That's not the way it works here. We want to discuss your idea here, but we get too many people pushing traffic to their own websites, so it's our rule that discussion stays here. Please provide us (you can copy/paste) an overview of your idea, and anything that supports it (evidence) and we can start discussing from there.

You mention lots of "problems" with physics and electricity, and we want to make sure this isn't misunderstanding on your part. We also get a ton of people who don't understand Relativity, and offer alternatives, but GPS works, and we have tons of evidence to support the theory, which the alternatives don't.

Thanks for understanding, and we look forward to seeing your concept presented here.

 

[swansont]

1 hour ago, MichaelVera said:

Since the days of Einstein, theoretical physicists have been the pinnacle of intellectual attainment. Ever ready to provide the answer to science’s greatest problems, the theoretical physicist is determined to be valid only by other theoretical physicists.

The original theoretical physicists took data from early chemists and directly hypothesized how electricity or the universe itself might work, none too concerned for testing these hypothesis against logic and reasoning. If it was a new idea, and wasn’t overtly incorrect, it stood as a theory.

Do you have some examples of this happening? Something standing as a theory without experimental confirmation?

 

1 hour ago, MichaelVera said:

These days, theoretical physicists strive to provide their moniker for some keepsake particle, unit, or or theorem. The theoretical physicist generally never leaves the university setting; academically or professionally. They will produce paper after paper because they are expected to; they are required to. Whether or not the idea is good, the paper will be produced. They depend on their research paper to graduate with their title, having probably less than seven years total experience studying physics.

Seriously?

In the US an undergraduate degree typically takes 4 years. and it's very unusual to complete a graduate degree is 3 years. The typical length is 4-6 years, for a total of 8-10. The you get to do postdoctoral work before settling in to a university setting, for the small fraction that go along that path. Most people with physics degrees don't work in academia,

 

1 hour ago, MichaelVera said:

But are theoretical physicists actually the top of the cerebral food chain? Could Einstein have produced better theory had someone been available to check the logic behind his concepts? What might have happened if Maxwell was forced to bring his ideas before Pythagoras to ensure they were feasible?

To what end? The proof of the pudding is in the eating, or in this case, testing to see if the idea holds up to experimental scrutiny. Not some new layer of logic review.

 

1 hour ago, MichaelVera said:

Society’s greatest mathematical achievements have been handed down from philosophers. Mathematicians who choose to ignore logic and reasoning tend to go astray. You will know the fruit of their labors because they will solve nothing. String Theory would be a prime example.

It is my contention that there should be General Philosophers to act as logicians for Theoretical Physicists, to keep their hypothesis logical. Without underlying logic, any idea is simply “fun to think about,” but of no lasting use.

Do you have any examples of any ideas within physics that fail this "test" of logic?

 

[Phi for All]

2 hours ago, MichaelVera said:

Society’s greatest mathematical achievements have been handed down from philosophers. Mathematicians who choose to ignore logic and reasoning tend to go astray.

So, I really don't need to study the math, do I? I could just use your reasoning and your definition of logic and save myself a buttload of time!

The key to mathematics, apparently, is making philosophy easier to grasp by defining it any way you want to, then claiming you "reasoned" out the "logic". I just knew all this talk about scientific rigor and evidence was busywork meant to keep me from the Truth!

[MigL]

I don't think you really know how theoretical Physics works.
Someone doesn't just pull equations out of their a*s.
Maxwell |( and Einstein ) based their work on years, if not centuries, of observational and experimental evidence.
You would have someone tell J C Maxwell, and A Einstein, "Your equations might describe the workings of reality, but they don't make sense to me, so they must be wrong." ???

I will, however, admit that in the latter half of the previous century theoretical Physics has, in some areas, far outpaced the abilities of experimental Physics to verify. Areas such as string theory, LQG, GUTs, Cosmology etc.

[J.C.MacSwell]

The "Higher Power" is answering to experiment.

[beecee]

On 11/19/2021 at 2:05 AM, MichaelVera said:

It is my contention that there should be General Philosophers to act as logicians for Theoretical Physicists, to keep their hypothesis logical. Without underlying logic, any idea is simply “fun to think about,” but of no lasting use.

"Philosophy consists very largely of one philosopher arguing that all others are jackasses. He usually proves it, and I should add that he also usually proves that he is one himself".

Henry Louis Mencken. (1880-1956). Minority Report, H. L. Mencken's Notebooks. Knopf, 1956.

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/what-is-theoretical-physicist#:~:text=A theoretical physicist is a,interactions between matter and energy.&text=Some of the most common,Dark matter

"A theoretical physicist is a scientist who uses mathematics, calculations, chemistry, biology and a series of theories to understand the complex workings of the universe and the interactions between matter and energy. They often attempt to understand areas that scientists are not currently capable of traveling to for exploration and data collection, such as the deep reaches of outer space and the ocean floor. Some of the most common theories studied by theoretical physicists include": 

String theory

Dark matter

Quantum mechanics

Electrodynamics

Thermodynamics

Relativity

Edited November 19, 2021 by beecee