Anderson's 1972 More is Different
From enfascination
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He is making the argument for the non triviality of the sciences in courser levels than physics. He invokes the idea of symmetry breaking. | He is making the argument for the non triviality of the sciences in courser levels than physics. He invokes the idea of symmetry breaking. | ||
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| + | I'm not entirely clear yet what is meant by symmetry breaking. Is a system symmetrical if it can be in all possible states, or perhaps if it spends equal amount of time in every possible state? | ||
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| + | In the absence of anything more complicated than a collection of free molecules, the symmetry laws are never broken, on average. We need living matter to produce an actual unsymmetry in the populations. | ||
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| + | "By symmetry we means the existence of different viewpoints from which the system appears the same" | ||
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| + | It is hard for me to get around what he means by symmetry and broken symmetries. he seems to be using it in many different senses and is also switching scales freely. | ||
Revision as of 05:14, 15 September 2008
He is making the argument for the non triviality of the sciences in courser levels than physics. He invokes the idea of symmetry breaking.
I'm not entirely clear yet what is meant by symmetry breaking. Is a system symmetrical if it can be in all possible states, or perhaps if it spends equal amount of time in every possible state?
" In the absence of anything more complicated than a collection of free molecules, the symmetry laws are never broken, on average. We need living matter to produce an actual unsymmetry in the populations. "
"By symmetry we means the existence of different viewpoints from which the system appears the same"
It is hard for me to get around what he means by symmetry and broken symmetries. he seems to be using it in many different senses and is also switching scales freely.