Blinded By “Science”

History of Atomism, Determinism, Materialism

Democritus in 300 BCE outlined a view of the world that has strongly shaped perceptions of reality to this day. All physical things can be reduced to smaller particles (atoms) that are irreducible. Everything can be “explained” by these particles.

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atomism-ancient/

The progress of science since 1500 has been shaped by a principle, called Occam’s Razor, which asserts that a simpler explanation is better than a more complex explanation. This is an untestable assertion, let alone a “law”, but the general progress of “science” and the “scientific method” since that time has reinforced this bias toward simple, rational, linear, logical explanations.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Occams-razor

The progress of modern science was accelerated by Rene Descarte’s 3-dimensional right-angle coordinate system of space. It led to the belief that all space was composed of a substance called “the ether”. Physics experiments showed that this “materialist” view of space was inaccurate.

https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/ether-physics-and-astronomy

However, the progress of science reinforced the atomist, determinist, materialist concept of the universe through the end of the 19th century (1800-1899).

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atomism-modern/

Early Modern Physics was Not Atomistic, Deterministic, Materialistic.

Newton defined concepts and equations for gravity and calculus. These were true breakthroughs, but perhaps misinterpreted as purely mechanical breakthroughs.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/168406-nature-and-nature-s-laws-lay-hid-in-night-god-said

To this day, we can describe gravity, but we have no idea how it works through space and time and matter. Gravity does not reinforce atomistic concepts, it challenges them with the notion of force at a distance, affecting those atoms.

https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/question232.htm

The next major progress in physics was in describing “waves”, as they flowed between atoms. Curvilinear, not linear. Waves have a role to play in mechanics, but they are more important in electromagnetic waves.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-physics/chapter/waves/

The equivalence of electricity and magnetism was one of the first true innovative discoveries in modern physics. Counterintuitive. Not atomistic. Not easy to understand. Not understood by most.

Click to access CHAP03.PDF

The role of heat or thermodynamics in physics and chemistry was one that allowed atomistic views to continue into the 20th century. With a plausible description of probablistic Brownian motion, the atomistic view remained ascendant through 1900.

Click to access CHAP03.PDF

Research into the “nature” of the atom eventually revealed that atoms were comprised of “particles”: protons, neutrons and electrons. However, the tiny electrons did not stand still. They rotated about the core of protons and neutrons. They also rotated at specific fixed distances away from the center of electrons. Or, they “tended” to appear at these 4 distances (SPDF) away from the center, based on a very complicated probability function. Atomistic, deterministic, materialistic concepts did not apply. This did not destroy the atomistic world view, I know not why.

https://www.wyzant.com/resources/lessons/science/chemistry/electron_configuration/

Modern Physics Rejects Atomism, Determinism, Materialism: Einstein

Einstein showed that time is “relative” to other factors in the universe (gravity/speed). The simple world view of “fixed” time is wrong.

https://www.sciencealert.com/watch-the-famous-twin-paradox-of-special-relativity-explained

Einstein’s theory also asserted that space is curved, rather than linear as always assumed previously. No simple “billiard ball” universe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curved_space

Einstein did not like the new “quantum theory” of the universe that was described in his time. The inherently probabilistic nature did not resonate with him, even though the physics community adopted it.

https://www.livescience.com/65697-einstein-letters-quantum-physics.html

Einstein was a “determinist” at heart and devoted his later life to finding a way to reconcile the very different “forces” of gravity, electro-magnetism and atomic forces. He failed to find a simple, deterministic explanation of the universe.

https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200512/history.cfm

Modern Physics Rejects Atomism, Determinism, Materialism

The universe appears to have a history and a future, it is not static.

https://www.space.com/25126-big-bang-theory.html

Light is a wave. No, it is a particle. No, it is both.

https://www.thoughtco.com/wave-particle-duality-2699037

All of reality is based on probability. Quantum theory of physics says that particles are connected/entangled at a distance. We don’t know which reality is real until we observe it.

https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/schroedingers-cat-experiment-and-the-conundrum-that-rules-modern-physics

How Bell’s Theorem Proved ‘Spooky Action at a Distance’ Is Real

If we try to observe nature more closely, we effect nature. Hence, we can never, ever, really know the world.

https://scienceexchange.caltech.edu/topics/quantum-science-explained/uncertainty-principle

The very best modern physics theory that attempts to integrate gravity, electromagnetic forces and atoms is “string theory”. It has no experimental evidence, only logic to support it. A world of “many dimensions” is far removed from an atomistic world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory#:~:text=In%20physics%2C%20string%20theory%20is,and%20interact%20with%20each%20other.&text=Thus%2C%20string%20theory%20is%20a%20theory%20of%20quantum%20gravity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory#:~:text=In%20physics%2C%20string%20theory%20is,and%20interact%20with%20each%20other.&text=Thus%2C%20string%20theory%20is%20a%20theory%20of%20quantum%20gravity.

Other Modern Applications of Probability or Non-Determinist Logic

Darwin’s theory of natural selection is based upon probabilistic events. Sexual reproduction. Genetic changes. Population results.

True Darwinism Is All About Chance

Mathematicians attempted to “systematize” their discipline at the end of the 19th century. Bertrand Russell was the leader.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principia_Mathematica

Unfortunately for those who longed for a solid, formal structure, Kurt Goedel proved in 1931 that any logical system worthy of the name of mathematics could not be proven from a finite set of obvious first assumptions. Mathematicians, physicists and other scientists had long looked at classical logic and geometry as a model for their work. Goedel showed that this was impossible. Again, the world should have digested the implications of this HUGE change, but due to the complexity of the arguments it was, and has been, largely ignored.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Godels-first-incompleteness-theorem

Modern portfolio theory, the basis of our financial system, is based upon system level probabilities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_portfolio_theory

Political theorists have determined that no voting system can fully represent the preferences of the voters.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/arrows-impossibility-theorem.asp

All modern scientists conduct experiments trading off alpha and beta risks. The hypothesis may be right, but stats say it is wrong. The hypothesis may be wrong. but the stats say it is right. This is an unavoidable conflict. No deterministic system can solve this.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/alpha-risk.asp

Determinist Philosophy

The scientific community, in reality, works based on existing paradigms, and changes its views slowly based upon new evidence and new paradigms.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/aug/19/thomas-kuhn-structure-scientific-revolutions

Human consciousness remains a challenge to the deterministic world view.

No Materialist Theory of Consciousness Is Plausible

The practical use of machine learning / artificial intelligence does not use pure logic. It searches for probabilistic patterns.

https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/machine-learning-explained

Summary

Atomism, determinism, materialism is an attractive view of our universe. However, we have much evidence to reject this world view. Our world is based on multiple levels of reality and probability. Most of it is “logical” and consistent, but it cannot be simply reduced to a mechanistic base.