RE: Faith based science.
Many people believe in the supernatural, of parallel universes and alternate realities. I am not unsympathetic to their beliefs but, while not intending any disrespect, I regard such concepts as either impossible, illogical, or meaningless.
If a parallel universe exists, operating with different physical laws than our own but at the same time and in the same place as our own and operated in such a way so as to affect us, it would have to interfere with our universe's nature as described by the laws of physics. Our universe is a system and such an interference would cause an irregularity in the system thereby breaking the long chain of cause and effect under which any system operates. This would "monkeywrench" the system causing its destruction. To have our universe and this alternate universe co-exist in this manner is physically impossible.
If a parallel universe exists that has the same laws governing its physical properties as our own universe then it would have the same nature as our own universe. If a parallel universe has the same nature as our own universe then that is the same as saying that both universes are identical. If they are identical then they are one and the same. If they are one and the same they cannot be different. Being different and not being different at the same time contradicts the law of identity and is, therefore, illogical.
If an alternate universe exists whose nature is different than our own universe but has no effect on it and if our universe has no effect on it, then such a notion of an alternate universe is meaningless, both practically and theoretically.
As to the origin of physical laws: In the beginning was chaos. Every particle had its own nature. Inevitable conflicts over time and place result in collisions and consequent particle destruction. Over time, random collisions operating through natural selection resulted in the existence of fewer and fewer particles and increasingly less frequent collisions. The remaining particles, at any given moment, will, as a natural consequence, have natures that are increasingly similar.
The remaining particles in our present day universe are nearly identical in their essential nature. Residual chaos will only show up over a long period of time. This slow-motion remnant of chaos is what we call order. Analyzing and describing this seeming order is what we call the Laws of Physics.
As for the wreckage: it goes dark.
Teddy Bare was briefly considered, but the image it conjured up was considered too disturbing (scroll to bottom, if you dare).
Posted by Gagdad Bob at November 28, 2007 9:30 AMRe the NASA item: now that Dennis Kucinich is thinking of having Ron Paul as a running mate, the crew for the Mars voyage is complete.
Posted by Connecticut Yankee at November 28, 2007 3:28 PMHow do you say, "torpedo jammed in the aft tube" in Iranian?
Posted by Dr Bob at November 29, 2007 3:40 PM