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Old 12-23-2007, 06:46 PM   #16 (permalink)
roachboy
 
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Likewise what others have put forth seems more to do with metaphysics than with the true spirit of this thread which seemed slanted towards physics. One is not like the other, and even though they both carry the same goal and a similar name to me they are mutually exclusive. Maybe it's just a result of schooling that trains me to throw away anything that is not tractable to well poised mathematical constructs or it could just be preference. In any case, I thought that the OP was specifically not referencing to any metaphysics.
cosmology and subatomic physics are strange twins, which seem to operate in tandem to the extent that each is a playground for those who seek metaphysical underpinnings for physical phenomena. dark matter--before that string theory--before that o i dunno--the entire project of unified field theory, really, to the extent that it is geared on the basis of einstein's famous claim that god wouldn't make a universe that was not unified. presumably, albert called god and asked her--or the claim is about einstein's personal combination of beliefs and nothing more, really....and everybody has a combination of beliefs and these are often inconsistent with each other (and often internally, but that's another matter). the problem comes with projection of one register of belief onto another, particularly if the first is a theological (metaphysical) committment and the other is working within a formal language, using strict procedures in most areas, etc..

this kind of thing happens all the time (why for example is there ONE universe, apart from the fact that we name it "the universe" and so are looking for a single system--which could easily be a consequence of the name itself rather than of the phenomena which is named.)

there are very complicated, interesting questions related tangentially to this general area--like if thinking is in itself temporal (the generation of pattern in the context of electrical fields generated by the firing and coupling of neural networks) and language stabilizes experience, what kind of relations obtain between thinking as a temporal process and language? it wouldn't conform to the protocols for thinking that were themselves shaped by language--not to syntax rules that we know about....does that mean that we can say nothing? or does it simply mean that we think in limited ways, within a particular frame of reference?

this has little to do with speculations about dark matter and other such cosmological forces--it has to do with how we operate. and thinking in this direction pushes you away from conventional metaphysics, which are built around the assumption that being is being-determinate, as if Creation happened once and for all and this god character is responsible for it. because this is a fundamentally different area of research, i only mention it (and mentioned it earlier) here to say that not all types of research work, and not all types of conceptual problems that try to work out the implications of such research, run in the loopy direction of the thread.
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