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Elementary Physics Paths

Title text: ==COSMOLOGY==> 'Uhhh ... how sure are we that everything is made of these?'

Explanation

This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a VERY NOT SIMPLE PARTICLE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.

This comic explores the complexities of understanding the fundamental building blocks of the universe.

The absurdity of understanding everything starting from just understanding basic particles is similar to the fallacy presented in 1570: Engineer Syllogism.

In the first panel, Cueball expresses the idea that if he understands the behavior of tiny particles, he'll understand everything. This reflects a common scientific pursuit, reductionism, to uncover the basic principles underlying all physical phenomena in order to understand them. For example, most chemical reactions can be explained as the recombinations of a few dozen common elements.

The comic then splits into two branches representing different fields of physics which refute Cueball's optimistic assumption: condensed matter physics and quantum field theory.

The concepts of antireductionism (or holism) is then demonstrated by following the left causal path using a 'traditional' physical approach. In the Condensed Matter Physics branch, Cueball encounters a cloud of vibrating particles, which symbolizes the complexity that arises when simple particles combine to produce complex behaviors. The issue with reducing down to particles is that the number of different interactions between particles to understand makes the topic no longer simple. This highlights the challenge of predicting macroscopic properties from microscopic interactions, a central theme in condensed matter physics. This is shown in everyday life, from things like a baseball curving through the air, to how a mirror reflects light. 1734: Reductionism also touches on the impracticality of gaining knowledge about a larger construct through understanding its constituent parts.

In the Quantum Field Theory branch, Cueball is faced with the issue that particles at the quantum level aren't simple. Quantum Field Theory deals with the fundamental particles and forces of nature, and it describes a complex world where particles can behave as both waves and particles simultaneously, among other strange phenomena.

The title text introduces a third branch: the field of cosmology, which deals with the large-scale structure and history of the universe. Cosmology suggests that even our catalog of the most fundamental particles might be inadequate - perhaps an allusion to theorized phenomena like dark matter and dark energy - raising questions about the nature of existence itself.

No matter how you study the universe, it's complicated.

Transcript

[Cueball gestures at a particle, represented as a dot with motion lines around it.]

Cueball: Everything is made of tiny particles. If I understand those, I'll understand everything!

[The comic splits into two branches.]

[Condensed Matter Physics branch]

[Cueball is fretting over a cloud of particles.]

Cueball: Oh no.

Cueball: Simple particles can combine to produce complex behaviors.

[Quantum Field Theory branch]

[Cueball is fretting over the same particle as in the first panel.]

Cueball: Oh no.

Cueball: These particles aren't simple!

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