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+--- Thread: Article How our view of “fundamental” has evolved over time (/thread-19851.html)
How our view of “fundamental” has evolved over time - C C - Feb 24, 2026
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/fundamental-evolved-over-time/
KEY POINTS: In our physical reality, the idea of something being “fundamental” is that it’s indivisible and not made up of smaller or more elementary entities: a concept that’s thousands of years old. We didn’t arrive at our first candidates for what “elementary” truly is until the discovery of the atom, and it was only decades later that subatomic particles were discovered as well. Today, we know of many different species of fundamental particles, but they still don’t explain everything that must exist in the Universe. Here’s how far we’ve come, with plenty of work still ahead of us... (MORE - details)
RE: How our view of “fundamental” has evolved over time - Magical Realist - Feb 24, 2026
The model of the irreducible particle is a paradox in itself. It asks us to posit a kind of object that is not made of anything more basic. A form without substance. A whole without parts. We need to question the utility of explaining things by positing unexplainable things. But is there really any other way TO explain? To do so without sweeping the unexplainable under the carpet so to speak?