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I have searched the internet for an indication of what it is. The great thinkers of the past have no idea.
It has more characteristics than the ones I listed.
Each ray from its source, ie a star, flows out in a cone shape, travels at constant speed.
This means that at every moment in the Galaxy rays of light from every stars flow through each other, without influence.
It is an interesting question, let me define (not necessary true) some definitions before my discussion.
1) Explanation: Suppose a statement S is true, then "explanation" is by means of person A applies human semantic language (for example: Platonic dialectic argument) and/or symbolic language (for example: math and physics) to convince person B believes that statement S is true.
2) Belief: Belief is a state of human mind in which person A thinks something to be the case with or without empirical justification and scientific reasoning.
3) Information: Information is a set of data, knowledge and beliefs. Note that, wrong information is still belongs to information.
4) Agnosticism: There exists something that is unknowable for human being. For examples, samsara, reincarnation, divine are still under debating, no satisfactorily determination is found.
5) Fallibilism: An epistemological view that nothing can be rationally supported or justified in a conclusive way.
So, in order to explain anything, say "table", inevitably we need to use certain steps inform of semantic or symbolic language such that you belief that this is really a "table", provided that we have already the concept of "table" by a priori or by a posteriori approach. If we replace the material "table" with a immaterial "red", for one who doesn't have the concept of "red" will not able to understand any explanation of the perception, "red". To reduce the semantic complication, suppose everyone know that "red" is kind of light within certain range of wavelength, for instance, any light which has wavelength between 650-700 nano-meter is define as "red", someone will then ask what "light" is? Then another may answer light is kind of electromagnetic radiation (EMR); then what is EMR? EMR is certain components of electric waves and magnetic waves; then what is electric wave? ...
So, if we keep asking the question backward further and further, then in philosophy, we are involved in so called "regress problem" or "Münchhausen trilemma". The consequence will be as follow:
a) Until certain points, we reject to explain further. In this case, EMR with the wavelength between 650-700 nm is my final explanation of "red".
b) Or the explanation will go backward with an infinite chain. That is A because of B, B because of C, and C because of D ...; provided that we have infinite many true information A, B, C, D...
c) Or the explanation is cyclic with a circular reasoning. That is A because of B, B because of C, and C because of A.
So, if someone explains "red" in form of the above a), b), or c), then I should believe that this explanation is true under my belief. That is, this explanation is consistent with the state of my mind and my previous knowledge (the term knowledge need to be defined).
However, the above discussion is not even close to the answer of your question "Is there anything that can't be explained?" Your question is more complicated than one thought. Let reduce your question to "is there something can be explained?” Obviously (before I study philosophy), I believe that 3+3=6, for instance, three apples plus three apples is six apples, and hence 3+3=6. But my explaination is cannot be hold for much genius, because I accidentally apply the ontology, while the number "3" may not have something attach with (I attach the 3 with the apple). Moreover, we even don't know whether "3" is an abstract object or not, more worse is that, we even don't whether abstract object exist or not. (May search the Fregean argument of mathematics Platonism)
If we rooted on the skepticism, fallibilism or agnosticism, then nothing can be explained. One of the reasons is that all human argument is based on semantic language and, unfortunately, semantic language is only a tiny part of the universal, part cannot cover the whole. That is why human consciousness and supernatural power are hard to be explained by semantic approach.
Regard to the day-to-day practice, 3+3=6 can be explained satisfactory. Likewise, "table" and "red" can also be explained satisfactory provided that we don't asked too many questions backward. According to the determinism, everything is causally determinate by some reasoning, and hence "free will" is only by chance but not by necessity.
Short closing: In day-to-day real life, all events can be explained, if not now, then in the future.
In the essential natural events, nothing can be explained by using semantic approach only, especially by human-to-human argument. Note that, truth is existed before everything and, it is independent on the observer and explanation.
Your reply is incoherant to me, to an a highly qualified Electrical Engineer, I wear the purple.
Light is not connected in anyway to Electro/Magnetism, except that they both and Gravity, can only be called Abstracts, they exist, we know that as we can detect each one of them. Indeed Gravity causes Light to flow around heavenly bodies.
My own thoughts Light, it relies upon something to flow, and at a constant speed. The only effect that will cause this is the Domino Effect. An initial force needed to start the process, the falling dominoes continue the process and gives it the constant speed.
The question is what provides the energy for the Domino Effect. It is not energy as we know it, could it be Negative Energy. Could it be that Positive Energy and Negative Energy are two sides of a coin, neither can detect the other side.
The basic mathmatical formular of the Big Bang, 1-1=0. That is if Positive Energy comes from nothing, the Negative Energy is also created.
I appreciate any comments, even negative ones, I have in the last 20 Years studied Life, how it started and what it is all about, coming across many enlightning things.
-- Updated September 25th, 2016, 7:31 pm to add the following --
From the question can anything be unexplainable.
This is the basis of Phylosophy, we try with deep thinking to give an explaination. Our thinking is not based upon the sciences, the sciences start as theories and with proof become LAWS. We start with probabiities, hopeing they can eventuality become theories.
Wklau wrote:
Note that, truth is existed before everything and, it is independent on the observer and explanation.
I have a problem with truth in mind..
"the following statement is false.."
"the previous statement is true."
True or false? Maybe neither? Maybe both? Clearly contradictory or maybe unknown? I used to believe that truth existed before reality and separate from it but I'm no longer so sure. My first idea of what truth is was some kind of static state or 'balance'. Since then I have realized that I imagine truth to be static because of the nature of language - these words will remain whether true or not, but awareness of truth is all about change or in other words discovery. I think words and language are too static to determine the 'true or false' status of the above two contradictory statements. During the process of reading the two statements in quotation marks, while jumping back and forth from one statement to the other because they refer to one another, it becomes clear that a change is happening at the same pace in which you are reading and I for one can't explain the changing validity with static language. I would like to see someone explain that..?
The two statements contradict one another in such a way that kind of creates a loop is the way I see it, each statement switches from being true to being false or vice versa purely because the other one is doing the same thing and referring back.. I struggle with whether they are true or false though because the limitations of my mind are such that they can't be both. Does anyone know what I'm waffling on about?
Nothing can be explained. It can only be described.
-- Updated Wed Feb 08, 2017 1:15 pm to add the following --
Mugglegum:
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.
That's an interesting conclusion from the observation. The more conventional conclusion is that light from the moon is reflecting simultaneously towards every point on the path that we are going to walk on. The act of walking selects each of these paths in succession.
LIGHT...
...Can anyone explain what it is compose of, and how it travels billions of light years through space.
Various purported explanations, with various levels of depth and generality could be given, but you would still be left asking essentially the same question at the end of it all. If somebody describes the underlying mechanism which links a set of observations it will always be possible to ask for the deeper mechanism underneath that mechanism, which describes a wider possible set of observations. That's why I think it might be best to altogether dispense with the notion that we are explaining something. Simply stick to the idea that we are providing relatively simple descriptions of large subsets of all possible observations.
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 great question that has never been answered and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my 30 years of research into the feminine soul, is: ‘What does a woman want?’” Sigmund Freud
This is one of those great questions that men can never answer nor explain why not. The best alternative is to buy flowers for Valentine's day and hope for the best.
Man would like to be an egoist and cannot. This is the most striking characteristic of his wretchedness and the source of his greatness." Simone Weil....Gravity and Grace
I would hazard that what most women want is not to be treated as though there is one thing that all women want, as if they're a single homogeneous group.
All explainations are dependent on words. All words are abstract sounds which represent things which are not abstract sounds. Since all words are defined by other words, there are no words that are not in the dictionary. It is a closed system, dependant on the rules that make it work, very much like math.
Since any explanation based on words is abstract, all ideas about explanations are also abstract. With a little imagination, anything may be explaned abstractly.
We do know, that, if egg did not invert, we would not exist.
The finite must invert/involute in order to evolute/outvert.
What goes in must come out again.
There exists only three cosmic directions:
in, out and around, however, around is always falling in or out.
r6
Rr6 wrote: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
You can explain anything that is conceivable within the human mind, whether that explanation includes facts or is completely Ludacris but here the definition of explanation comes into play. I suppose an explanation can be given for anything, my question would do we need to prove said explanation when faced with contradictory claims?