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+--- Thread: Which physics question is most important? + Best explanation for everything (/thread-4694.html)
Which physics question is most important? + Best explanation for everything - C C - Dec 26, 2017
Which fundamental physics question is most important?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/12/23/ask-ethan-which-fundamental-physics-question-is-the-most-important/#448ee91578c1
EXCERPT: If gravity itself isn't a fundamental force, but rather an emergent one, many of the mysteries of space and time may have a different solution than the ones we're presently seeking.
Despite all we've learned about physics, science, and the Universe before us, there are still some incredibly fundamental questions whose answers are still elusive. Each one is a challenge to humanity, and the answers are thoroughly uncertain, with tremendous implications depending on what the answer actually is. From our cosmic birth to the fundamental laws governing everything, and from the origin of life to what actually makes up the Universe, there is so much left to discover. If we could only know the answer to one, which one should we choose? That's what our Patreon supporter Chris Shaw wants to know, as he asks:
If you could have a complete answer to one of these 5 questions what would it be?
Did cosmic inflation happen or was there another process?
Is earth the only place in the cosmos with life?
How [can we] merge general relativity and quantum mechanics?
What is dark energy and dark matter?
How did life begin on Earth?
These are all incredible questions, and they're all open questions that probe our deepest mysteries about the Universe. Here's why each one matters.
MORE: https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/12/23/ask-ethan-which-fundamental-physics-question-is-the-most-important/#448ee91578c1
The Best Explanation for Everything in the Universe
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/12/string-theory-everything/548774/
EXCERPT: . . . String theory (or, more technically, M-theory) is often described as the leading candidate for the theory of everything in our universe. But there’s no empirical evidence for it, or for any alternative ideas about how gravity might unify with the rest of the fundamental forces. Why, then, is string/M-theory given the edge over the others?
MORE: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/12/string-theory-everything/548774/
RE: Which physics question is most important? + Best explanation for everything - Syne - Dec 26, 2017
Well, if we knew how life began on Earth, we'd have some idea whether life existed elsewhere.
But assuming a unification of GR and QM would tell us what gravity really is, I'd be most interested in that one. It would likely lead to the most new technological advances.
RE: Which physics question is most important? + Best explanation for everything - Yazata - Dec 26, 2017
(Dec 26, 2017 07:49 PM)C C Wrote: If you could have a complete answer to one of these 5 questions what would it be?
Did cosmic inflation happen or was there another process?
Is earth the only place in the cosmos with life?
How [can we] merge general relativity and quantum mechanics?
What is dark energy and dark matter?
How did life begin on Earth?
It isn't actually a physics question, but my answer would probably be #2: "Is Earth the only place in the cosmos with life?" (Assuming that the answer isn't just 'yes' or 'no', If the answer is no, I'd want some information about other forms of life elsewhere.)
That's because, first of all, my background is in the biological sciences. Secondly, it kind of includes #5 "How did life begin on Earth?" in its scope. If we have some idea of the variety of kinds of alternative life (alt.life) that are possible out there, we will be able to form a much better idea of the different ways and circumstances it can begin. Knowing something about that would bring us closer to answering a more fundamental question that's not on the list: 'What is life'? (I'd guess that if we could survey the entire universe, we'd find lots of borderline forms, things that might be living according to one definition, but not according to another.)
There is a physics aspect to it too, since life seems to be an emergent complexity phenomenon. So it would be interesting to know more about the different ways this exceedingly elaborate complexity emerges in the universe. Life is our most obvious example (perhaps not the only possible one out there), so knowing more about the variety of forms life can take and the different ways it can manifest should tell us something deep about reality itself.
If #2 only gets a 'yes' or 'no' answer, #5 "How did life begin on Earth" would be my question. The problem is, even if we answer it for Earth, that's just one instance of what might be a much broader and more expansive kind of phenomenon.
#1 is of less interest to me, since it is dependent on one current theory of cosmology (cosmic inflation). #4 suffers from the same defect in my opinion, since it's based on current beliefs about dark matter and dark energy.
#3 might be of most fundamental interest to physicists, since it could open the door to a 'theory of everything'.
RE: Which physics question is most important? + Best explanation for everything - Syne - Dec 26, 2017
#2 (life elsewhere) doesn't automatically entail #5 (how Earth life began), because it doesn't verify abiogenesis. But #5 does entail #2, because knowing exactly how one form of life began would explicitly answer whether abiogenesis is possible. IOW, #2 doesn't tell us how life on Earth, or anywhere else, began, but #5 would tell us how life anywhere could begin. Assuming #2 entails #5 is just presuming abiogenesis a priori. Variety, in the form of evolution, could easily exist without the ultimate origin for any life being wholly naturalistic.
Even if we only know how life began on Earth, we'd at least know that sufficiently Earth-like planets could potentially produce life. But if we had proof of abiogenesis, I suspect we could develop some knowledge of how that process could work in differing circumstances.