Quote:
Originally Posted by beppe
Let me add a second reply to to your questioning my argument.
A) It is quite common to make simplifications and to take advantage of assumptions when applying a theory.
In doing so one introduces chaos in the description. How much and of which nature, it is sometimes within one's control, sometimes less so.
In this way, the gap between reality and the predictions of the theory widens, as one uses a week version of the original theory, now contaminated by chaos. By the other hand, the theory can be applied. Good. In some applications this is essential, very useful, beneficial, worth of encomium, and what else. I have absolutely nothing against theories, I just reaffirm the impossibility of seeing through Plato's screen, and therefore the actuality of the metaphor.
B) The fact of applying a week version of the theory does not mean that the theory is in any way less accurate or worse. In fact, in your assertion, the original theory is kept well closed in a drawer.
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I'm not sure what you are trying to demonstrate here Beppe, but I know one thing. If the natural philosophers in the 17th century had followed this kind of reasoning, we would still be stuck with Plato and Aristotle to explain reality. We would have a perfect world of ideas and "logical" reasonings, and it would have no relation whatsoever to the real world.
Yes, they (Newton and others) simplified things and made many assumptions, but this allowed them to build theories that worked for many practical purposes, and if they hadn't, the following generations, including Einstein, wouldn't have anything to build on. And if a better, more accurate theory replaces Einstein's, it will be built on his works and those of others, not replace it from scratch. It will improve, reduce the margin of error, continue the journey.
We have a saying in French, "Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien", "Better is the enemy of good enough". If you keep trying to reach perfection on your first try, you just won't get anywhere. Any journey begins with a first step. This is true of many human activities, including the pursuit of knowledge.