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From: rimey@ucbmiro.ARPA (Ken Rimey)
Newsgroups: net.physics
Subject: Re: meta-physics
Message-ID: <9161@ucbvax.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 18-Jul-85 19:44:31 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.9161
Posted: Thu Jul 18 19:44:31 1985
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Reply-To: rimey@ucbmiro.UUCP (Ken rimey)
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>	May I cordially request, without any reference to 
>unscientifically proven matters, some explanation as to what
>the study of meta-physics concerns and all relevant details.
>
>		Moshe Eliovson
>		{allegra, ihnp4}!we53!busch!mte

The term meta-physics does not mean what you think it does.  Usually
written without the hyphen, it refers to a particular school of (non-modern)
philosophy that has no particular relationship to physics.  Perhaps
someone else can give us an authoritative definition.

"Meta" is often prefixed to the name of discipline, to indicate the
study of the language, assumptions, or methods of the discipline.
"meta-mathematics" has this kind of meaning.

It would be nice to have a term for speculation on questions like

	1.  Does there exist a finite theory that completely describes the
	fundamental behavior of matter in the universe?

	2.  Is there a simple and elegant mathematical formulation of this
	theory?  Why should there be?

	3.  Can we guess constraints on what this theory must be like?
	(Many general relativity enthusiasts would say yes.)

Meta-physics would seem the appropriate term, but it has already been taken.
As a kid, I was delighted to find zillions of entries for "metaphysics" in
our public library's card catalog.  But when I looked up the books on the
shelves, I found that they had nothing to do with physics or science.

(Actually, it was particularly disappointing because I hadn't been aware
of what non-modern philosophy was really like.  These books were full of
debates on mind vs. body, the nature of God, and the like.)

Maybe the interesting observation is that there just isn't much written
on questions like mine above.  People who actually know physics seem to
find that their time is better spent actually doing physics.

					Ken Rimey