What can we say about nature?
Abstract
In this essay, I review the importance of languages in the study of reality, following the well-known aphorisms by Galilei, Bohr and many others. The emphasis on these aspects helps us to understand that it is not meaningful to ask if the reality if "digital" or "analog", but we have to search what is the best language to study some specific aspects of the reality. This problem is particularly felt in the case of frontier science, like quantum gravity, where, in front of several theories (syntaxes) available, there are presently neither observations nor experiments leading to the building of a convincing semantics. You will not find here recipes for a definitive theory. Just thoughts and questions.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1101.0908,
title = {What can we say about nature?},
author = {Luigi Foschini},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1101.0908},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
11 pages, no figures. Submitted for the FQXi essay contest 2010 "Is reality digital or analog?"