D’Souza rightly points out that modern physics has broken the bounds of human imagination with ideas of other dimensions—and even other universes—and has required us to accept features of our own universe (at the subatomic level, for example.) that are entirely counterintuitive.
Our models of the universe are based on our understanding of what we can detect and measure. The perspective we are stuck with is defined by our bodily presence on this particular planet at this particular time, and is necessarily limited by that fact. Which gets me to thinking about Korzybsi's postulate, via (the great) S.I. Hayakawa:
"The map is not the territory."
And its corollary:
"The map is not the whole territory".
We've been discussing dark matter for a while, the topic not being one that can be reinforced much by most of the observed phenomena. A lot of the conjecture is off the map. But it's definitely worth pursuing since all that unexplained gravity out there must be coming from somewhere. Since I'm not particularly well educated, I need some help getting ahold of issues bigger than my pea brain can handle. So I ordered D' Souza's book, (one click ordering on Amazon can be dangerous) and await a fascinating read. Thanks for the post, and have a wonderful Easter.
That is to say, a supposition of this type depends on man's experience being the measure of what can happen in the Universe. If Darwin was right, this to some degree depends on fitness that accrues by way of natural selection over very long periods of time. I gather the theory holds that man gets "smarter" over time. And thus the things man articulates today are "truer" than articulations of experience from the human past.
Notwithstanding, I gather you are not persuaded by the way this argument has been laid out for us, by the self-proclaimed experts of our age. [Me either, FWIW]
Also well and truly said was your observation:
We've been discussing dark matter for a while, the topic not being one that can be reinforced much by most of the observed phenomena. A lot of the conjecture is off the map. But it's definitely worth pursuing since all that unexplained gravity out there must be coming from somewhere.It seems nowadays all kinds of conjectural questions arise for which there is no immediate practical test by which they might be falsified/validated.
And so it seems to me best to keep an open mind, to follow the trail where it leads — using one's own direct knowledge and experience as the test, not of reality directly, but of any purported theory of reality.
It's the "theories" that are "killing us."
Can we pull-eeze get back to reality, sometime soon?
Thank you so much for writing, Seven plus One! May God bless you and all of yours at this Eastertime!