Timeline for Examples of theorems misapplied to non-mathematical contexts
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
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| Jun 15, 2020 at 7:27 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
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| Feb 21, 2020 at 1:58 | comment | added | Siddharth Bhat | Where can one read about this general a version of the unicertainty principle? I know of it in terms of commutators of matrices, not in terms of "gr" (the grassmanian?) | |
| Feb 7, 2018 at 9:11 | comment | added | lcv | PS Quantum evolution is pretty deterministic. | |
| Dec 24, 2011 at 22:42 | comment | added | Qfwfq | The uncertainty principle doesn't have anything to do with determinism (or the lack thereof)! It just implies our inability to measure with arbitrary accuracy two quantities at the same time. Quantum mechanics of course "non deterministic", but non-determinism is built into the theory: it is not a consequence of the uncertainty principle. | |
| Oct 10, 2011 at 22:49 | comment | added | Joël | ...of the world determines the future state, there is nothing the will can change about the future". This line of reasoning was used by both scientific and religious people, with the determinism of Newton's law of physics as one of the way to justify that the world is indeed determinism. Now the fact that the formulation of Quantum Mechanics is not deterministic surely undermines this argument. | |
| Oct 10, 2011 at 22:45 | comment | added | Joël | Daniel, I voted down this answer for two reasons: (1) As Charles tried to tell you, your first example is, at best, an example of misuse of a physical, not mathematical result, and therefore does n;t answer the question as asked. (2) But actually, this is not a misuse at all, since the question of determinism is relevant to the old philosophical/theological debate on free will. Indeed, for centuries, the main argument against free will was based on the syllogism "if the world is deterministic, free will is impossible", which was roughly justified as follows: "if the present state... | |
| Apr 13, 2011 at 22:40 | history | edited | Daniel Moskovich | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
typo
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| Apr 13, 2011 at 22:39 | comment | added | Daniel Moskovich | I don't see why $\Delta x \Delta p \geq \frac{\hbar}{2}$ would have any more application to religion that the formulation which I gave... I would doubt that most non-scientists are familiar with either formulation, nor do they mean either formulation when they cite it (although it would be entertaining if they did). Rather, it's turned into "everything is uncertain" or "the presence of an observer influences what is being observed". | |
| Apr 13, 2011 at 20:32 | comment | added | Charles Staats | This answer does not make it obvious, to me, that the uncertainty principle cannot be applied to religion in the way suggested. I would guess that, at least, most attempts to make this application are flawed, but the surely the physically interpreted version, not the abstract mathematical one, is the uncertainty principle in question? | |
| Apr 12, 2011 at 20:08 | history | answered | Daniel Moskovich | CC BY-SA 3.0 |