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0 pointsThomPete3y ago0 comments

Any theory that is explainable and hard to vary does not need probability.

Can you explain how probability is used in statistical mechanics in a way to contradict what I am saying?

P.S. Thanks for being a sport and talk about this in a truly respectful way.

If you want to understand where I am coming from, I can really recommend David Deutsch talk about probability here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfzSE4Hoxbc

It was a big awakening for me once I realized not only where probability theory came from (not physics) and how engrained it is in our thinking.

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kgwgk3y ago· 2 in thread

The thing is that I'm not sure of what you are saying.

Can physics explain that if you put together a glass of water and a glass of ethanol you end up with a mixture of water and ethanol?

Do you agree that it's possible - but unlikely - that they don't mix?

For other comments of yours it seems that your conclusion would be "I have no way of knowing. It depends on the positions and velocities of each of the molecules and they will either mix or they won't."

I really would appreciate having a clear answer to the question "Can physics explain that if you put together a glass of water and a glass of ethanol you end up with a mixture of water and ethanol?". Don't be shy to answer "no" if that's your idea of physics!

ThomPeteOP3y ago

I am not sure I understand the question.

"Can physics explain that if you put together a glass of water and a glass of ethanol you end up with a mixture of water and ethanol?"

Wouldn't that be chemistry (an emergent property of physics)?

But yes we can explain if it happens and how it happens, if we have a theory for it that have been tested.

If not we will do trial an error/experiments and see what happens.

kgwgk3y ago

I don't understand the answer. (Assuming it's "yes".)

What is the explanation of why they will mix? Does it involve probabilities?

Why didn't you say "I have no way of knowing. It depends on the positions and velocities of each of the molecules and they will either mix or they won't."

(By the way, if I had asked about a container of neon and a container of helium would you have also claimed that asking whether they will mix is a chemistry question?)

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