[halyconWays]

> while QFT fields like higgs are not physical at all

Phew, I feel better now. Non-physical scalar and tensor fields permeating all of expanding spacetime in a non-physical manner give rise to physical behavior via local nonphysical wavefunction collapse that we call excitations.

[criddell]

That's why the mathematical universe hypothesis (everything is built from mathematical structures) seems likely to me.

[TheOtherHobbes]

It seems incredibly unlikely to me.

It's more likely all physics is argument by analogy from limited human experiences, and math is just a culturally consistent subset of that.

What look like genius predictions are mostly (Einstein aside...) generations of post docs throwing equations at their whiteboards to see what sticks.

A few happen to be confirmed by experiment. Most are quietly forgotten.

I strongly suspect we literally can't begin to imagine what's really going on.

[criddell]

> I strongly suspect we literally can’t begin to imagine what’s really going on.

I also happen to believe that might be true. In the same way a dog will never understand single variable calculus, there probably are concepts that are out of reach for us.

[halyconWays]

It's sort of unsatisfying to say that math has the ability to experience itself, though

[criddell]

Is it? That’s basically what a conscious AI would be and I have a hard time coming up with reasons why a software brain couldn’t replace a biological brain.