FireoftheStorm wrote:
One question on the theory of Heat Death/Big Crunch - why do we think we can predict an end to the universe?
I'd personally think such assertions on the universe from our world would be like the old astrologers making assertions of the solar system from their city-states. (no offense to anyone who is an astrologer. It's an interesting protoscience)
"We have the best technology/mathematics possibe at the time," You may say. "So did they," I say. Nowdays, we look at them as crackpots. On day, perhaps, people will think the same of modern science.
My arguement; Science shouldn't try to judge the universe.
Scientists think they can predict the end of the universe because they have special computers and whatnot that can somehow measure things throughout the universe, and they make conclusions based on that data. As for the crazy religious people who think they can predict the end of the universe, I don't know how to explain that to you. People have been predicting the end of the world (which, a long time ago, equated to the end of the universe) for thousands of years.
Also, scientists can study whatever they wish. If they want to try to study the entire universe, that's fine. There are no laws regulating what scientists study, so long as they can observe it and come up with testable hypotheses. You are not the ruler of all scientific study, so I really don't think you have a right to say what scientists get to study.
(Then again, I personally think humans are too stupid to fully understand the universe, but that's a whole different ball game.)
25 Apr 2013, 7:35 pm
