My background reading on the Boltzmann Brain problem has convinced me that the study of philosophy is an utterly necessary companion to the study of physics and science generally. My discourse analysis taken from the last few hours strongly suggests that the primary reason people want to dispense with the Boltzmann Brain problem invariably is less about the desire for more precise scientific understanding, and more about the awkward uneasiness with the distasteful possible existence of alien, disembodied consciousnesses. The motivation is less lets make better theory and more lets ensure that nobody seriously considers something that is this obviously ridiculous. Dismissing something that challenges our accepted rationalist ontology because it seems ridiculous, even when the theory that produces it makes about as much sense as everything else being proffered, is flat-out bad science. Also of concern to these writers is the possibility that those consciousnesses might have a different perspective on space-time-being than the human one. That vantage point could proffer vastly different theoretical physics that humans might have to adapt to, making our precious little viewpoint all but irrelevant. Again, not a good reason to stick to your intellectual guns. Example: preposterousuniverse/blog/2014/05/05/squelching-boltzmann-brains-and-maybe-eternal-inflation/
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 23:34:06 +0000
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