Temporal kinetics and the creation of the universe

I remember seeing this thing a few years ago. If memory serves it is primarily a computation device, a mathematical shortcut. It could mean more than that of course; the calculus could actually mean something about reality, but the jury is still out.

Of course. But by analogy, the heliocentric model could be called merely a better "computation device" than a geocentric model. What takes the second model beyond "device status" is our ability to picture it better than the first in our mind's eye. This raises the significant issue of the relationship of our notion of "reality" to our ability to form "pictures"....a whole ball game in its own right !

Well no **** Sherlock. But we're talking about the scientific context.

Thanks for the postmodern drivel.

No. The OP sets a philosophical agenda irrespective of the quality of exposition.

Ah, I see you have a touch of setantitis !

Not really, because the laws of physics one would need to have to accommodate a geocentric model would not be coherent for all celestial objects. E.g. other planets, including some much larger than earth (Jupiter, Saturn etc) would still revolve around the sun, and only earth would be in the situation of having the sun (and everything else in the solar system) revolve around it. At the galaxy level, the picture would become even more bizarre. So it goes beyond a mere computation device - a geocentric model clearly messes up the coherence of physical laws.

pretty good drivel if you ask me. I wish we could have more of it.

Actually, everything orbits the common center of mass which is within the sun, since it's so much bigger than the planets.

Thanks for the info, Brandon. ;-)

William of Ockham...

i thought i was just going to abandon this thread...but the last page of contributions, or so, have made it worth sticking around...Thanks, fresco and JLN. This is one of those moments when i cannot help but regret being such an asshole to both of you in the past. As well as, one of those moments that, despite our differences, i appreciate your sticking to your principles, or whatever intellectual structures you substitute for the same.

Of course, i don't mean to imply that i won't still be a huge **** in the future. But in the meantime, i'm eager to see where this thread goes