Originally Posted By: Bill S.


How about a theory that makes just one arbitrary assumption?

The cosmos is infinite; there is no change, therefore no time.

The Universe we observe, with its time dependent changes, is an “illusion” created by our restricted view of reality.

I use the word “illusion”, not in the sense of saying that what we observe is not concrete reality within our frame of reference. It is our reality; the scientific study of this reality is a legitimate and worthwhile pursuit. Perhaps, the more we learn about our reality, the nearer we will come to some understanding of the underlying, infinite, reality. IMO, QM is just beginning to open that door.

For me, theories such as yours, Finiter, whether they turn out to be right or wrong, have the value that they provoke thought.

In my opinion, just one arbitrary assumption is not enough. If there is only one assumption as you have suggested, "the cosmos is infinite; there is no change, therefore no time", then you cannot go further. For the observed part of the universe you require further assumptions. I would say that any model requires the 'six basic assumptions' (characteristics)namely: matter, mass, space, time, energy and force. You remove one, and the system will not work. QM is not an exception.

Once you assume that there are the above six characters in your story, you have to 'assume' what roles have to be given to these six. Thus we require more assumptions.

For example, my model can be stated as follows: "Fundamental particles of matter have a fixed mass, fixed volume, fixed energy and and fixed force, and these integrate into the universe that we observe". Can I say that it has only one assumption? In fact, the statement includes all the six characteristics. I have thus already assumed that mass, energy, volume and force are the qualities of matter. In addition, I have to consider the space and time independent of matter, which I assume is infinite. (However, I can reduce the number of fundamental constants to just three, one each for mass, space and time.) These I think are barest minimum assumptions required.

QM has in addition to all these, another assumption that bodies can remain in two forms at any instant. This is the one that I think is inappropriate. Many 'evidences' have been put forward to justify this assumption. However, in my opinion, all have some loop holes. These 'evidences' can be explained in an alternate manner without using QM, that is what I argue.

Last edited by finiter; 10/14/11 09:21 AM.