The Origin of the Laws of Nature (Prof. Peter Atkins)

[Hilary Term 2020, Week 3] Prof. Peter Atkins (Oxford University) presents to the Oxford University Scientific Society his theories into the origins of the laws of nature. Prof Atkins makes just one supposition about what happened as the universe came into existence, and then argues that the natural laws emerge from a combination of indolence, anarchy, and ignorance. Hosted in the Ship Street Annexe of Jesus College, Oxford on 6th February 2020.

[@lepidoptera9337]

The laws of nature were invented by man to explain observations. Beyond that there is a more technical answer along the lines of "geometry + relativity + a quantization condition = pretty much everything we see", but that argument gets highly technical once we get into the field quantization part. To understand it you will have to study five to eight years of physics full time. :-)

[@therealsheikh]

Something from nothing is always nothing. 🎤 ⬇️

[@Bogusgal]

And when nothing is in your brain, you cannot understand science.

[@therealsheikh]

@@Bogusgal that's an excellent illogical and emotionally driven response. Clearly shows how much is in your brain 🤣

[@Bogusgal]

@@therealsheikh No emotion behind it. Just pointing out that you do not understand what Prof. Atkins is talking about.

[@CeurComplex]

Prof. Atkins is setting as an axiom that something can come from nothing. Philospophical there is no real difference between an axiom and a religious dogma. In both cases one is not allowed to ask why that is possible. What worries me more is that he says one can divide zero into parts. Because "seperation" means nothing more than division. I wonder what my math teacher would have said if I wrote down something like "0 divided by x equals..." Normally if you divide stuff into parts each part should be less than what it was made from. So everything we see in this universe should be in reality less than nothing if it was made from nothing ... but don't wonder how this is possible, because sometimes physics is counterintuitive but atheism is by definition always sane!

[@therealsheikh]

@@CeurComplex regardless of how much you divide or subtract on nothing, it'll still be nothing. Prof. Atkins is trying to find something in nothing and it's just not going to happen. He will find the answer which his human brain cannot comprehend when he stands in front of his lord in another realm.