Philosophy Discussion Forums

And i don't mean that it can't be explained by the lack of information.

I have adapted the belief that everything has an explanation, but i'd like to know if there's a thing that can't be explained.

I prefer something small.

There are no final answers, there are only questions.
Brevity is good but I for one can't explain your faith.

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY wrote:And i don't mean that it can't be explained by the lack of information.

I have adapted the belief that everything has an explanation, but i'd like to know if there's a thing that can't be explained.

I prefer something small.

The true position of an electron around a nucleus of an atom.

That, apparently, is something that can only be measured as a set of probabilities, not an actual point in 3-dimensional space.

I encourage physicists to chime in on this one if I have it wrong.

Scribbler60 wrote: The true position of an electron around a nucleus of an atom.

That, apparently, is something that can only be measured as a set of probabilities, not an actual point in 3-dimensional space.

I encourage physicists to chime in on this one if I have it wrong.

I'm sorry, but I think "measured as a set of probabilities" is a good explanation, so what exactly are you saying can't be explained? Granted some things might be unknowable in simple terms but its likely that all true explanations are inevitable. No?

-- Updated February 7th, 2016, 3:42 pm to add the following --

I guess explanations can defy logic.

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY wrote:And i don't mean that it can't be explained by the lack of information.

I have adapted the belief that everything has an explanation, but i'd like to know if there's a thing that can't be explained.

I prefer something small.

Define "small", then I'll try to think of something that can't be explained.

I cannot truly communicate how it feels to be me. I cannot describe all my attributes and internal sensations, although theoretically I could cover much of the ineffable with math. Yet even if my communication was perfect, the interpretation of my words would vary.

In a sense we each live in a bubble, a self contained universe, and never the twain shall (quite) meet.

ThamiorTheThinker wrote:

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY wrote:And i don't mean that it can't be explained by the lack of information.

I have adapted the belief that everything has an explanation, but i'd like to know if there's a thing that can't be explained.

I prefer something small.

Define "small", then I'll try to think of something that can't be explained.

Also, I would like to know if you are wondering whether or not a higher-dimensional being - or any being which has access to a perspective we cannot have by our nature - can explain a concept, idea or abstract object. This is vital to the outcome of this discussion, for if we don't define what is doing the explaining, we can't provide a comprehensive answer to your question.

Likewise for the inquiry of " what is meant by 'explain'? ". Does explanation require internal comprehension, i.e., must the explainer/interpreter be able to understand and relate to the concept or thing it is explaining?

The origin of gravity

Language is neither big or small. I cannot touch it yet it resides in all of us. It is the very thing that allows yoy to ask the question you have and the very thing behind every communicable thought. It cuts us off from everyone and allows us to create knowledge.

I exist be cuase of language. Without language there is no "I".

Does that fit the bill or is it too "literal"?

Please explain to me what the weather is going to be tomorrow.

I would think that if we're searching for something that can't be explained it would need to be something that is beyond both our capacity and ability to explain.

If we're wondering whether or not the true position of an electron around a nucleus of an atom could be explained, for example, we have to consider that there are combinations of words and phrases that can explain this. Perhaps we don't know of what those exact words and phrases might be, but it still means that it can be explained.

What we'd then be looking for is something beyond representation. Something that could not be explained by any proxy that is a word or number, or other representation.

The representation does the explaining (or, perhaps, illustrating) but it doesn't point us to what is beyond what it represents. Perhaps there isn't anything at all.

Poiesis wrote:I would think that if we're searching for something that can't be explained it would need to be something that is beyond both our capacity and ability to explain.

If we're wondering whether or not the true position of an electron around a nucleus of an atom could be explained, for example, we have to consider that there are combinations of words and phrases that can explain this. Perhaps we don't know of what those exact words and phrases might be, but it still means that it can be explained.

What we'd then be looking for is something beyond representation. Something that could not be explained by any proxy that is a word or number, or other representation.

The representation does the explaining (or, perhaps, illustrating) but it doesn't point us to what is beyond what it represents. Perhaps there isn't anything at all.

I like your use of the phrase "that could not be explained by any proxy". Nietzsche would agree that language and semantics are games of metaphor and representation. Words, he thought, are not meant to reveal realities, but rather to translate them.

i'd like to know if there's a thing that can't be explained.

The mental mechanism by which things are explained.

Ultra-micro gravity ergo mass-attraction i.e. no one knows why mass attracts, only that if it did not, Universe would not exist.

The egg inverts to create the spinal chord. Why does the genetics of egg invert?

Mass-attracts INward towards other mass. Maybe it has to do with some aspect of spin, that two masses share.

r6

LIGHT

It starts as a carrier wave for energy; ie from the sun to its planets. Once it is stripped of energy, it carries on in a straight line forever.

It has no;
Dimentions.
Energy.
Diffuses in an atmosphere.
Reflects when it strikes a mass.
Carries information from its source.

When we walk along a path next to a body of water, we see the light from the moon reflected from the water, this path follows us as we walk on.

Can anyone explain what it is compose of, and how it travels billions of light years through space.