The Star Garden Blog Launches!

Welcome to The Star Garden blog! From now on, I hope to regularly post articles highlighting recent breakthroughs or events in science. I am also interested in the philosophy of physics so I thought I would start by briefly discussing what this is.

The philosophy of science explores the assumptions, implications and methodology of science. It asks how science can be defined, how science progresses and whether science tells us the truth about the world.

Two of the most famous arguments in the philosophy of science are pessimistic meta induction and the no miracles argument. Pessimistic meta induction states that our current scientific theories are probably false because all theories before them were overthrown. The no miracles argument states that our current theories must reveal some truth, otherwise the technological advancements we have made would be miraculous.

The philosophy of physics asks questions about space, time, matter and energy, which cannot currently be answered by physicists. Questions such as;

Why is there something instead of nothing?

Could there have been an event before the big bang?

Would spacetime exist if there was no matter or energy in the universe?

Why do we experience time as 'flowing'?

Is time travel possible?

Is the universe deterministic?

Do we have freewill?

How do we define consciousness/intelligence?

Can physics explain why we experience self consciousness?

Could we be living inside a simulation?

I am particularly interested in interpretations of quantum mechanics. The most popular approach with philosophers of physics appears to be the Everett, or many worlds, approach. This states that we live within a multiverse composed of an infinite amount of parallel worlds. This approach makes unique predictions and so experiments could one day be used to determine whether it is correct.

Physicists such as Newton and Einstein discussed the philosophical implications of their theories and considered a basic understanding of philosophy to be vital for the progression of science.

Einstein stated that "so many people today - and even professional scientists - seem to me like someone who has seen thousands of trees but has never seen a forest. A knowledge of the historic and philosophical background gives that kind of independence from prejudices of his generation from which most scientists are suffering. This independence created by philosophical insight is - in my opinion - the mark of distinction between a mere artisan or specialist and a real seeker after truth" (Einstein, Letter to physicist Robert A. Thorton, 1944).

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