Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version nyu B notes v1.5 12/10/84; site csd2.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!mhuxn!mhuxr!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!petrus!bellcore!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!cmcl2!csd2!martillo From: martillo@csd2.UUCP (Joachim Martillo) Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: Re: Proof of Outlandish Propositions Message-ID: <3780071@csd2.UUCP> Date: Fri, 23-Aug-85 10:23:00 EDT Article-I.D.: csd2.3780071 Posted: Fri Aug 23 10:23:00 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 26-Aug-85 00:53:29 EDT References: <293@mit-athena.UUCP> Organization: New York University Lines: 30 I was not clear enough in my original posting. Rosen believes in science but not in God. My claim is that modern science rests on certain beliefs for which there is no logical basis and which must be taken on faith. The first is that "induction" (in a loose sense) works. That is we can take our few observations and generalize into physical laws. The next is that somehow mathematical equations can be used to model the universe. Now we know that there are fundamental problems with the Hilbert/Bernays/Goedel approach to mathematics. Also even without the problems in mathematics itself, many of the equations which we use tend to come up with embarrassing singularities. This is particulary a problem with the most empirically supported cosmological equations as t -> 0. There also may be some fundamental problems with mathematically modeling extremely small distance extremely high energy events. The last is repeatability. That is if I repeat an experiment N times and get some set of results and then if I repeat the experiment again at some unspecified time, I will get some results related in some rational way to the first set of results. Without these assumptions, there is no modern science. Modern science works well, but that does not prove these assumptions but rather shows they are good axioms. I am perfectly reasonable to take the efficacy of these axioms as possible evidence for the existence of a divinity stabilizing the universe in some sense.