Reversible physics is stopping us move forward

Modern physics is predicated on the idea that the universe operates via reversible laws. That’s because there’s been about three hundred years of theoretical development, backed up by boundless experimental observations, that suggest this is true. Everything from Galileo’s early work to Noether’s famous theorem is predicated on this principle. In this article, I’m going to show you why this idea, no matter how well-founded it may seem, is dangerous, if not outright wrong.

This post is one of a series I’ve been slowly putting together in which I encourage readers to exercise skepticism around some of the apparently unassailable theoretical foundations for modern science. That’s because I believe that for fundamental physics to move forward, such scrutiny is warranted.

Physics, I’d propose, has been at an impasse for about a century, as we still cannot reconcile relativity and quantum mechanics, despite decades of concerted, global effort. I suspect that we cannot advance without checking the assumptions that allowed us to get to where we are. I have no specific theory I want to promote. I have opinions, of course, but they’re not the point here. The point is that we know less than we imagine we do and it may be getting in our way.

So far, this series has covered the nature of the real numbers, their use in physical theories, the idea of irreducible randomness, and the concept of space-time. If you disagree with this article, or any that have preceded it, I’d be only too happy to hear about it. Let me know what you think I’m missing in the comments.

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