• 9 Posts
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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: November 8th, 2023

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  • Thanks, the video really sells it for me. I’d been struggling with just how to judge how bad this all is, as I was assuming that the poor translation to english was partly responsible. No, I guess that wasn’t a huge factor.

    I am just disappointed that the clothing seems only to be made to be worn by women. I think there may be a market for flashy codpieces constructed of aerospace materials.








  • toasttoScience@mander.xyz*Permanently Deleted*
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    29 days ago

    Let me explain the allegory and how it relates to the problem.

    We can directly observe some things, like the shift in frequency of light or the output of accounting software. We can make inferences from these observations, like our models of the universe or our belief that the software indicates that money has been stolen. We can also step into discussions about what our inferences imply, like the existence of something that would explain what our models tell us or the existence of a thief.

    In the allegory, the necessity of a thief is contingent upon our inferences about missing money. In physics, the necessity of dark energy is contingent upon the validity of our models and the assumptions drawn from them.

    The claim that dark energy has to exist is just too strong of a claim, as it rests only upon inference. Even when you make, as you do, the weakest possible version of the claim, which is to say that dark energy is whatever makes sense of our inferences, it is still too strong a claim, unless you include “our inferences have been incorrect” as a possible outcome to the question of “what is dark energy?”

    If researchers wish to question some of our inferences and doubt some of our assumptions, it’s a good thing. Claiming that dark energy must exist whenever researchers question it is not helpful.

    EDIT changed matter -> energy


  • toasttoScience@mander.xyz*Permanently Deleted*
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    29 days ago

    Hey, I was just trying to say that David Hume and likely a few others would have reservations about accepting your argument.

    Perhaps an allegory would be useful.

    Suppose I go about town telling everyone that there is a thief about. “A thief?”, everyone exclaims, “where, who?” And I tell them that I have not actually seen the thief, but I have taken to calling him Drake Emory, and I have evidence. Some of my money is missing, and that can’t happen without a cause. I call that cause Drake Emory. Seeing the wisdom of my words, the townsfolk agree that while Drake Emory is a strange name to call a thief, still he must exist because the money is gone. So, convinced of his existence, everyone searches high and low for Drake Emory. Some posit that Drake is a man who sneaks into houses at night. Others are certain that he is just a rat who chews bank notes to make his nest. There are many, many discussions about him. Only one thing is certain: Drake Emory must exist. How could he not? Something made that money disappear. Unfortunately, what the towns people don’t know, and I never even realize myself, is that no money ever went missing. In truth, I only came to that conclusion because I really don’t fully understand the accounting software that I’ve been using.




  • toasttoScience@mander.xyz*Permanently Deleted*
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    30 days ago

    I get what you are saying, and it seems reasonable if dark energy turns out to be something. If, however, dark energy turns out to be a placeholder for simply our misinterpretation of what is happening, it’s a little harder to say that dark energy exists.