Quote:
Originally Posted by Robh
Steve,
You make many good points. Ouch!
I would agree with you that the scientific community puts the results of any new research under the microscopic and are very critical of claims that cannot be established through evidence. I guess the same applies here on IIS!
It was not my intention to create a red herring, nor to devalue the research done by scientists. From my understanding of the referred article, the results were more reliant on new equations and functions but still with the assistance of a computer to produce the overall results. I assumed that if certain theoretical assumptions were made, values given to constants and equations applied within a computer program then it was still some form of simulation. Perhaps, it was a poor example.
However, in the research discussed in the article, there was an assumption of the existence of dark matter. There are other competing theories e.g. MOND that may yet prove to be correct.
I guess my general question was about the increasing reliance on computer simulations in describing the real world and about some of the initial assumptions that were being made. In my thread starter, I stated "My worry is that many simulations are scaffolding an imaginary Universe without any real-world confirmation ... Anyone else with any thoughts on this?". My intention was to simply to open a discussion on the increasing role of simulations and their validity in supporting theories.
Thanks for your input, Rob.
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Go back to my post above...that sums up the use of computers.