World Science Scholars

1.5 Progress and Contradictions

discussion Discussion
Viewing 27 reply threads
    • So far in this module, you’ve learned how contradictions in physics have been the seed of many great discoveries. Why do you think this is? What is it about scientific contradictions that leads to so much progress?

    • Contradictions provide puzzles about the universe that need to be solved for a more complete understanding.

    • When a theory fails by not answering key questions, the choice is to either accept the holes in the theory and go with what works, or develop a new theory. It’s not the contradictions alone that drive discoveries, it’s the collapse of a paradigm under the weight of accumulated failures. That drives theories that will contradict the accepted ideas and if those new theories resolve the holes in the old without creating too many new ones, a either a new paradigm emerges or the existing one shifts to incorporate the new ideas. I think Thomas Kuhn discussed this in depth in his Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

    • If there were no contradictions, there would be no need for further study.

    • Contradictions probably arise for limited frameworks of descriptions. Combining different frameworks into a larger one is what leads to progress in resolving paradoxes. Typical example are the electric and magnetic forces being put together as an electromagnetic force as described be Maxwell equations.

    • Contradictions are demanding for further study. There must be solution somewhere, because nature would not allow contradiction; or would it?

    • Contradictions reveal incomplete knowledge of the problem. A better solution is demanded and this serves to motivate study. The contradiction identifies aspects of the problem requiring better understanding.

      • I agree with Larry Bloxham. It is human nature, when our viewpoint is challenged by someone with a different perspective, to respond emotionally and rigorously defend our position. Later, a calm and rational consideration of the other perspective, enables us to refine, adapt, alter or abandon our previous understanding.

    • They simply provide clues to what the path to progress is in further understanding the universe – solve a contradiction and you gain a new insight.

    • I think contradiction plays a major role in scientific discoveries. It is just like when some discoveries are opposing to each other and then the curiosity to find the solution motivates to study further, and after finding the solution this cycle continues and the discoveries lead to inventions….
      Thank you.

    • Analyzing the different points of view and contradictions in the different theories, can bring us a more objectivity now, no doubt.

    • With each new lesson, we simultaneously increase our understanding of physics and encounter a problem hitherto unknown. The further down the rabbit you go, the deeper it gets.

    • When a physics question has possibilities and supports more than one theory, it leads to question the theory. In physics two ideas cant be the answer of one thing. Which is why resolving theses theories brings people close to true understanding by answering questions.

    • incomplete theory by Godel.

    • To me, contradictions are alternative perceptions of same reality.

    • Questioning n changing the prevalent traditions is what drives us towards development. If there would be no contradiction then people might not question things.

    • Contradictions help us find out the imperfect parts of a theory (Example) and establish a base on what exactly needs to be solved or found to come up with a conclusion for the contradiction.

    • Just imagine if every contradictions we have on the table today were instantly solved… We would be up to our waist in even more of them if it were so.

    • contradictions lead us to question concepts previously developed, making it necessary to develop a new one or to change the one already existent to correctly answer scientific questions.

    • Contradictions make people curious about finding out the truth, which leads to scientific progress.

    • Hello,

      Contradictions in science lead to discovery.

      It is how I learned about circumpolar science being unique, when living in Nunavut.

      Polar regions are not equitorial in spin.

      Polarcusp areas allow stellar and interstellar drop-ins.

      Contradicting southern science, circumpolar science also shows the sun`s polar regions move a great deal slower than equitorial regions.

      This defies logic.

      It is why Nunavut is more similar to outter-space than the other biomes.

      Contradictions in polar science allow people to think of how the sky can freeze- impossible in the south.

      Contradictions in science draw forth all our knowledge to survive. When we apply theory and predictions, we see that if polar regions on the earth can have frozen skies, so to can Ganymede, and other places. Theoretical predictions often exclude oddballs, but Tesla was no oddball.

      Tesla measured the speed of light to be three times faster than Einstein`s calculations, but only when first leaving the source.

      And so, contradictions can cripple science and silence our inquiries when science is incomplete.

      Attachments:
      You must be logged in to view attached files.
    • Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

      Reconciling the theories of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics may also allow us to fathom why two stars have been found and aged as older than our Big Bang Theory currently allows.

      One star was 20 billion years, the other rated as 16 billion years.

      This is outside current Big Bang 13.5 billion years.

      Contradictions are often racial, in my opinion, and posturing of authority.

      Attachments:
      You must be logged in to view attached files.
    • Who would look for an answer without a question? Contradiction’s ask the questions, breakthroughs supply the answers.

    • Part of the serendipity in science is the recognition of skills required to notice the oddball.

      Ammonia goes liquid at minus thirty Celsius.

      Water finalizes molecular motion at minus forty Celsius.

      The… serendipity… of Prof. Kim of Soeul National University states many Nobel prizes are won not by intention, but as a product of a race to discover.

      Many people are onboard a popular topic, and that is the lead and driving force of discovery- also where funding is alloted.

      Both Astronomy and physics have discovered oddballs while on different courses of action.

      Why is Dark Matter now used to describe Galactic… proto-disc… collapse now that it is a topic? Because it shows an origin of Dark Energy as a source of Hubble expansion.

      Attachments:
      You must be logged in to view attached files.
    • Well, if there was ever one “absolute universal truth”, there wouldn’t be any reasons to disagree and different opinions would simply not exist, as the truth is indisputable. Contradictions are natural, they are based on the fact that no one holds the incontestable truth, and the most we can do is come up with theories that might, or might not be closer to the “truth”, and these theories will get us closer to unraveling all the mysteries. Take string theory, for example, it does not answer all of the questions; there are still mathematical blanks to be filled and experimental proof to be made. However, string theory is a theory that unifies general relativity and quantum mechanics, and by coming up with new theories, the different pieces of the puzzle might one day fit perfectly. For now, it’s impossible to tell whether one theory is the absolute truth, or a dead end, all we can know is that the different contradictions might lead us exactly to the question we need to answer in order to progress.

    • Without contradictions, there is not an easy way to figure out where to start looking for the solution to a problem. We need these contradiction to act as a catalyst for our minds to begin work on finding the answers.

    • It is natural for contradictions to occur in physics. All of this happens because it will depend on the type of reference adopted, that is, the regime that is being imposed. For example, is the discussion from a classical or quantum point of view? What dimensionality are you dealing with? Are there more variables in the system? So depending on the type of regime, variable and dimensionality, among other issues, there will be contradictions in the discussions. These contradictions are good because they encourage deeper thinking and this makes scientific work progress, improving the tools for experimentation and techniques for discussing the subject in question.

    • To be direct, contradictions in our understanding of the universe shed light on what we don’t know, giving us a wider spectrum of things to think about. This leads to people thinking more about things they never thought about earlier, therefore leading to new fields of thought in our understanding of the universe.

    • Contradictions push science forward by making us think.

You must be logged in to reply to this discussion.

Send this to a friend