This is a space where UIUC SPI participants in the Summer 2013 Research Methods and Writing Seminar engage each other as researchers, intellectuals and members of a cross disciplinary knowledge producing community.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Week 4
With the experimentation involved in engineering, it's often difficult to have multiple versions of the truth. If something proves true after being tested under various conditions, it is generally accepted. The only tension that I can currently think of is that between classical mechanics and quantum mechanics.
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I think that in terms of seeking universal truth, quantum mechanics wins with little doubt. Classical mechanics is entirely explainable as a limiting case of quantum mechanics, but the quantum phenomena we observe every day in our lab have no classical interpretation.
ReplyDeleteBut then you bring up an interesting point - what if we are not seeking the grand theory of everything? If our value system is based in applications, then there is real tension between the historical use of classical mechanics and the future potential of quanta. The transistor is a perfect example of a mix between quantum physics and classical information. It relies on quantum mechanics electrically but hides that fact from the software.