- #1
Omega0
- 208
- 51
Hi, I am graduated physicist, working in a company and additionally giving lectures in a university. Just about my background, so I think I know what I am talking about if I say: Physics explains exactly nothing. It just describes the nature but it does not explain anything. This is basically the definition of physics but I think this is not stressed enough nowadays.
As a nice example: In the university in my hometown Prof. Dr. Christoph Strunk is teaching about experimental physics in the field of superconductivity and nano structures. He wrote a remarkable book about thermodynamics. In the beginning of the book he is writing something like (no citation, a german book): If you asking yourself what entropy is... just accept it to be something which is there. Did you ever ask yourself what momentum is? If you think about the formula p=m*v then this is a formla but there is no meaning behind it. So why seems to be something like entropy that different?
Think about Feynman who said something like: Forget about to understand quantum physics, it is just there!
My "problem" is that I from time to time run into situations where I am speaking to educated people who believe that physics is sort of a basic explanation of the entire world. In those situations I try sort of grounding them but this seems to work not always.
So, what is your trick to convince them that they are wrong - or do you believe that physics is the truth?
As a nice example: In the university in my hometown Prof. Dr. Christoph Strunk is teaching about experimental physics in the field of superconductivity and nano structures. He wrote a remarkable book about thermodynamics. In the beginning of the book he is writing something like (no citation, a german book): If you asking yourself what entropy is... just accept it to be something which is there. Did you ever ask yourself what momentum is? If you think about the formula p=m*v then this is a formla but there is no meaning behind it. So why seems to be something like entropy that different?
Think about Feynman who said something like: Forget about to understand quantum physics, it is just there!
My "problem" is that I from time to time run into situations where I am speaking to educated people who believe that physics is sort of a basic explanation of the entire world. In those situations I try sort of grounding them but this seems to work not always.
So, what is your trick to convince them that they are wrong - or do you believe that physics is the truth?