What's ultimately possible in physics

[Brian H]

Rezwan wrote:

Christ’s plea/diagnosis from the cross, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani!” (Lord, Lord, forgive them; they know not what they do!”) is true at all times; we are permanently ignorant, and blameless and without virtue.

Eloi eloi etc. means “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

I had a friend in seminary who was also of the persuasion that God doesn’t know what’s going to happen and is thus engaged more enthusiastically in creation. The whole predetermination vs. free will debate comes down to that question. The next question is, are dynamism and ignorance compatible with absolute perfection and omniscience?

Mysterious ways. But we digress.
Urk. Ya, like I said, it was late. I picked up the wrong bit of Greek. Anyway, his appeal for forgiveness on the grounds of ignorance is possibly the basis for permitting insanity pleas in modern jurisprudence, too! (Unable to distinguish right and wrong.)

[Brian H]

Lerner wrote: I won’t comment on causality etc. Said enough in my book about time, consciousness. But for relativity you have to distinguish special relativity and general relativity. Special is about effects of high velocities and is very well verified although there can be question about interpreting it, just as with QM. GR is the theory of gravitation. There things are not so clear. One big prediction of GR, gravitational waves, remains unverified. The LIGO observatory should have detected waves from supernovae, but has not. So I don’t think GR is clearly verified yet.

Good! I don’t much like the tautologous explanation-by-field (and associated particles) trick much in general, in particular with gravitons, etc.

I’d like some ‘stronomers to do a timing experiment, if they can find and track a rogue black hole passing some stars. Time how long it takes the stars to experience the nearest approach attraction of the BH, and see if gravitation is actually a light-speed phenomenon. It seems hard to believe it could be anything else, but the proof hasn’t yet been supplied, AFAIK.

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