Re: fruitfulness of a research paradigm

Moorad Alexanian (alexanian@UNCWIL.EDU)
Sat, 04 Apr 1998 11:44:12 -0500 (EST)

At 10:28 PM 4/2/98 -0800, Robert L. Miller wrote:
>
>
>Robert L. Miller wrote:
>
>> Moorad Alexanian wrote in part:
>>
>> > More recently the anthropic principle which is also devoid of any
predictive
>> > power.
>>
>> If you can make it to Berkeley by June 7 you can ask John Barrow if he thinks
>> the anthropic principle has any predictive
>> power. He is one of the faculty of a conference sponsered by The Center for
>> Theology and the Natural Sciences and the John Templeton Foundation, from
>> June 7 to June 10. A lot of the big guns will be there; Barrow, Peacocke,
>> Polkinghorne, Roy, Sandage, Townes and many others.
>>
>> You can get a brochure and registration information at
>> CTNS
>> C/O Professional Meeting Planner
>> 5 Central Square, Suite 201
>> Stoneham, MA 02180
>>
>> Bob Miller

Dear Bob,

I wish I could listen to such lectures. Hope a book comes out so that we can
read all about it. It seems to me that overly all-inclusive principles are
hard to put into mathematical form from whence models with predicative power
can be built. It is true that Mach's Principle* influenced Einstein in
formulating his theory of gravitation. However, the Anthropic Principle
seems to be much more fundamental and thus harder to incorporate into a
mathematical theory of nature.

Take care,

Moorad

*The inertial forces associated with the motion of a given mass are
generated by all the other masses in the universe.