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I hereby declare today Max Planck day at UD

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 Max Karl Ernst Ludwig, the founder of quantum theory, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.  

Here are some quotes from Wikiquote: 

As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter.

Das Wesen der Materie [The Nature of Matter], speech at Florence, Italy (1944) (from Archiv zur Geschichte der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Abt. Va, Rep. 11 Planck, Nr. 1797)

 

 

I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.

As quoted in The Observer (25 January 1931) 

 

We have no right to assume that any physical laws exist, or if they have existed up to now, that they will continue to exist in a similar manner in the future.

The Universe in the Light of Modern Physics (1931) 

[Put that in your pipe and smoke it Dr. “because we have gravity” Hawking.] 

 

Anybody who has been seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind realizes that over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: Ye must have faith. It is a quality which the scientist cannot dispense with.

Where Is Science Going? (1932) 

 

Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.

Where is Science Going? (1932) 

 

Both Religion and science require a belief in God. For believers, God is in the beginning, and for physicists He is at the end of all considerations… To the former He is the foundation, to the latter, the crown of the edifice of every generalized world view.

Religion and Natural Science (Lecture Given 1937) Scientific Autobiography and Other Papers, trans. F. Gaynor (New York, 1949), pp. 184

 

A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.

Wissenschaftliche Selbstbiographie. Mit einem Bildnis und der von Max von Laue gehaltenen Traueransprache., Johann Ambrosius Barth Verlag, (Leipzig 1948), p. 22, as translated in Scientific Autobiography and Other Papers, trans. F. Gaynor (New York, 1949), pp.33-34 (as cited in T.S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions).

 

[Which is why ID advances one funeral at a time]

 

Under these conditions it is no wonder, that the movement of atheists, which declares religion to be just a deliberate illusion, invented by power-seeking priests, and which has for the pious belief in a higher Power nothing but words of mockery, eagerly makes use of progressive scientific knowledge and in a presumed unity with it, expands in an ever faster pace its disintegrating action on all nations of the earth and on all social levels. I do not need to explain in any more detail that after its victory not only all the most precious treasures of our culture would vanish, but — which is even worse — also any prospects at a better future.

Religion und Naturwissenschaft (1958) 

HT to Axel

Comments
'While Soler Gil and Alfonseca can’t disprove the proposals of infinite repetition, they emphasize that the point of their critique is to show that the idea remains in the realm of philosophy, mythology, and sci-fi tales, not modern cosmology. They call the speculation “ironic science,” a term used by science journalist John Horgan to describe options that do not converge on truth but are at best “interesting.”' Amazing, Philip. Even 'ironic science' is a grotesque misnomer; particularly, when you consider how quick the atheists are to decry any absolutely-valid metaphysical point, however deeply enmeshed it is with physics,as 'not science' - as if our terminally irrational friends would know science from a hole in the ground.Axel
April 24, 2013
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I suspect the strangest thing about the strangeness of the subatomic world, is that, for even the deist, it was utterly predictable and certain to be so, in that it had to lead to the interface between matter and spirit; not likely to be desperately mechanistic, eh?Axel
April 24, 2013
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OT: Also, besides Planck's and Hitler's birthday, the week had some historic days for the homosexual community in New Zealand and France: the legalization of gay marriage. In your face, Hitler!JWTruthInLove
April 24, 2013
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Today, Apr 23, 2013 is the 155th birthday of Max Planck - this is a fitting day to remember him (I'm somewhat disappointed that there is no doodle from Google...)DiEb
April 23, 2013
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OT: God Is the Best Explanation of the Fine-Tuning of the Universe for Intelligent Life - William Lane Craig - video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMBcc2aTqcEbornagain77
April 22, 2013
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@DiEb I think the (US sponsored?) indoctrination of the german people to feel ashamed for something they haven't done is a disgrace. Germany has been singled out as an example, while other western nations kill and murder wihout any consequences. Did you know that german people still pay Israel (!!) billions of euros (http://janschejbal.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/israel-entscheidet-deutschland-zahlt/).JWTruthInLove
April 21, 2013
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Well, I was enjoying the preceding documentary until they ventured into the 'many worlds' interpretation. A position which ends up epistemological failure. It would have been nice if they would have offered a counter point to that position. Such as,, Does Quantum Physics Make it Easier to Believe in God? July 2012 - Stephen M. Barr - professor of physics at the University of Delaware. Excerpt: The upshot is this: If the mathematics of quantum mechanics is right (as most fundamental physicists believe), and if materialism is right, one is forced to accept the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics. And that is awfully heavy baggage for materialism to carry. If, on the other hand, we accept the more traditional understanding of quantum mechanics that goes back to von Neumann, one is led by its logic (as Wigner and Peierls were) to the conclusion that not everything is just matter in motion, and that in particular there is something about the human mind that transcends matter and its laws. It then becomes possible to take seriously certain questions that materialism had ruled out of court: If the human mind transcends matter to some extent, could there not exist minds that transcend the physical universe altogether? And might there not even exist an ultimate Mind? http://www.bigquestionsonline.com/content/does-quantum-physics-make-it-easier-believe-god You don't exist in an infinite number of places, say scientists - January 25, 2013 Excerpt: But the scientists' biggest criticism of the idea of infinite repetition in both proposals is the assumption that the universe is infinite. Whether the universe is infinite or finite is a big open-ended question in cosmology that scientists may never answer. Soler Gil and Alfonseca note that, looking back at the history of physics, situations emerged where infinities seemed impossible to avoid, yet improved theories eliminated the infinities. Currently the two basic theories in physics, general relativity and quantum theory, both predict infinities. In relativity, it's gravity singularities in black holes and the big bang. In quantum theory, it's vacuum energy and certain parts of quantum field theory. Perhaps both theories are simple approximations of a third more general theory without infinities. Soler Gil and Alfonseca also note that, Paul Dirac once stated that the most important challenge in physics was "to get rid of infinity." While Soler Gil and Alfonseca can't disprove the proposals of infinite repetition, they emphasize that the point of their critique is to show that the idea remains in the realm of philosophy, mythology, and sci-fi tales, not modern cosmology. They call the speculation "ironic science," a term used by science journalist John Horgan to describe options that do not converge on truth but are at best "interesting." http://phys.org/news/2013-01-dont-infinite-scientists.html This following research showed that even a quasi infinite 'many worlds' cannot account for quantum entanglement: Looking Beyond Space and Time to Cope With Quantum Theory – (Oct. 28, 2012) Excerpt: To derive their inequality, which sets up a measurement of entanglement between four particles, the researchers considered what behaviours are possible for four particles that are connected by influences that stay hidden and that travel at some arbitrary finite speed. Mathematically (and mind-bogglingly), these constraints define an 80-dimensional object. The testable hidden influence inequality is the boundary of the shadow this 80-dimensional shape casts in 44 dimensions. The researchers showed that quantum predictions can lie outside this boundary, which means they are going against one of the assumptions. Outside the boundary, either the influences can’t stay hidden, or they must have infinite speed.,,, The remaining option is to accept that (quantum) influences must be infinitely fast,,, “Our result gives weight to the idea that quantum correlations somehow arise from outside spacetime, in the sense that no story in space and time can describe them,” says Nicolas Gisin, Professor at the University of Geneva, Switzerland,,, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121028142217.htmbornagain77
April 21, 2013
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here is a peek at the quantum world Max Planck was instrumental in opening up: Documentary - The Universe - Quantum Physics - The Microscopic Universe - video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6HWbs11zdUbornagain77
April 21, 2013
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Chance "Do you know where I can find the entire thing?" Yes: Entire video: Kirk Durston - God and Science: Is There A Conflict? - video http://powertochange.com/students/kirk/videos/god-and-science-is-there-a-conflict/bornagain77
April 20, 2013
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BA77 @4, that's a winner there, thanks -- it should be a headliner. Where was this lecture? Do you know where I can find the entire thing?Chance Ratcliff
April 20, 2013
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OT: The Origin Of Life Requires Intelligence - Kirk Durston PhD http://www.metacafe.com/w/10335610bornagain77
April 20, 2013
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All the funnier for being so totally true, mapou!Axel
April 20, 2013
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Apr 23 would be more appropriate than today for a Max Planck day - in fact, we Germans try to avoid Apr 20 for any kind of celebration...DiEb
April 20, 2013
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Thank you, Barry. It all needs to be shouted from the roof-tops, doesn't it? I mean almost 100 years later, and these hapless mutts still refuse to acknowledge what made the great thinkers of empirical science, great. Indeed, they give every impression of considering them 'old-fashioned', ludicrous 'IDiots', still not with the programme - instead of the other way round. And that quantum mechanics, replete with all its paradoxes and plain mysteries, was and is the definitive, the ultimate, the very last, possible, physical paradigm. HT to Phil, though we could spend most of our lives doing that, with the extraordinary synthesis he keeps building and enriching for us.Axel
April 20, 2013
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If Planck and Newton had not been among the greatest physicists and scientists that ever lived, the scientific community would have ostracized them a long time a go.Mapou
April 20, 2013
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