Freethought & Rationalism Archive

malookiemaloo · 03-19-2003, 05:40 AM

I the Christian religion there are antinomies ie two truths which conflict eg God's sovereignty v mans' responsibility.

Can anyone give me an example of an antinomy from science please?

I'm not looking for evidence to show inconsistencies in science in order to defend religion, just interested.

thanks in anticipation,

m

VonEvilstein · 03-19-2003, 05:59 AM

First thing to roll off the top of my head, would be the dual nature of light - both a waveform and a particle at the same time...

Jinto · 03-19-2003, 07:37 AM

Not just light - every particle in existence can also act like a wave.

fando · 03-19-2003, 01:31 PM

The wave-particle duality is not contradictory under QM, so where's the "antiomy?" I suppose if one didn't know QM, the duality would seem contradictory under whatever physics one does know. So at what scope do we discuss the "antiomies" of science? Are there any? I think not because the concept we call 'truth' is not readily applicable to scientific theorems. Paradoxes are as close as you can get to scientific contradictions, and thus antiomies. However, paradoxes are always due to incomplete knowledge. That is, scientific paradoxes always have a resolution. Antiomies seem like they don't. (Is antiomy a real word? I never heard it before, and my dictionary doesn't have it.)

Lobstrosity · 03-19-2003, 05:25 PM

General relativity clashes with quantum mechanics, so I guess that's an antinomy. GR relies on the fact that space is smooth. Quantum tells us that as we zoom in on a region of space closer and closer it becomes less and less "smooth." Since there is no limit how far you can zoom in, eventually space gets so unsmooth that the GR equations cease to function (you get infinities). Thus we use GR to describe things that are large (on the order of a kilometer or greater) and quantum to describe things that are small. Superstring theory could potentially solve this incompatibility by limiting the distance scale over which we can probe the universe to something small but non-zero (on the order of a Planck length), but it is just in its infancy and is still no where even close to being able to make testable predictions.

Psycho Economist · 03-19-2003, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by malookiemaloo
Can anyone give me an example of an antinomy from science please?

How's this for antimony?

Oh wait... you said antinomy.

My bad.

fando · 03-19-2003, 07:01 PM

Oh... antinomy. Time for a new perscription.

malookiemaloo · 03-21-2003, 12:18 AM

Thanks everyone.

m

03-19-2003, 05:40 AM	#1
malookiemaloo Regular Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: glasgow, scotland Posts: 356	antinomies I the Christian religion there are antinomies ie two truths which conflict eg God's sovereignty v mans' responsibility. Can anyone give me an example of an antinomy from science please? I'm not looking for evidence to show inconsistencies in science in order to defend religion, just interested. thanks in anticipation, m

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03-19-2003, 05:59 AM	#2
VonEvilstein Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: .nl Posts: 822	First thing to roll off the top of my head, would be the dual nature of light - both a waveform and a particle at the same time...

03-19-2003, 07:37 AM	#3
Jinto Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: SLC, UT Posts: 957	Not just light - every particle in existence can also act like a wave.

03-19-2003, 01:31 PM	#4
fando Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Los Angeles Area Posts: 1,372	The wave-particle duality is not contradictory under QM, so where's the "antiomy?" I suppose if one didn't know QM, the duality would seem contradictory under whatever physics one does know. So at what scope do we discuss the "antiomies" of science? Are there any? I think not because the concept we call 'truth' is not readily applicable to scientific theorems. Paradoxes are as close as you can get to scientific contradictions, and thus antiomies. However, paradoxes are always due to incomplete knowledge. That is, scientific paradoxes always have a resolution. Antiomies seem like they don't. (Is antiomy a real word? I never heard it before, and my dictionary doesn't have it.)

03-19-2003, 05:25 PM	#5
Lobstrosity Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: San Diego, California Posts: 719	General relativity clashes with quantum mechanics, so I guess that's an antinomy. GR relies on the fact that space is smooth. Quantum tells us that as we zoom in on a region of space closer and closer it becomes less and less "smooth." Since there is no limit how far you can zoom in, eventually space gets so unsmooth that the GR equations cease to function (you get infinities). Thus we use GR to describe things that are large (on the order of a kilometer or greater) and quantum to describe things that are small. Superstring theory could potentially solve this incompatibility by limiting the distance scale over which we can probe the universe to something small but non-zero (on the order of a Planck length), but it is just in its infancy and is still no where even close to being able to make testable predictions.

03-19-2003, 07:01 PM	#7
fando Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Los Angeles Area Posts: 1,372	Oh... antinomy. Time for a new perscription.

03-21-2003, 12:18 AM	#8
malookiemaloo Regular Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: glasgow, scotland Posts: 356	Thanks everyone. m

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