Cherished Assumptions and the Progress of Physics

Abstract

For Physics to progress or advance, cherished assumptions about reality and the universe must give way to new notions that allow a better understanding.  Ideas from sciences of the past seem quaint or misguided to modern scientists, and today’s Science will undoubtedly be seen to contain untruths or half-truths by folks in the future.  However; we cannot know which assumptions are erroneous, without sufficient time for exploration and comparison.  Scientists learn more by devising experiments that – if performed with care and precision – will reveal which assumptions are wrong.  Unfortunately assumptions are hidden by nature, as when we assume ideas are true we take their reality for granted; we believe in them.  Beliefs must be carefully separated from what we learn through observation or test by experiment.  In Cosmology, there is an additional challenge as scientists cannot experiment with or observe some of the cosmos’ wonders up close, and must be content with observation at a distance.  Thus; a number of explanations aptly fit the same evidence.  Perhaps we need to be more playful with our assumptions.  There will always be frontiers in Physics, horizons we cannot reach and must speculate about instead.  It is best, therefore, to be aware that any of our cherished assumptions could be wrong, and to remember the assumptions we do not know we have made might be an even greater problem.