first science
the missing science, the theory of everything, and the arrow of time
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| The Theory
of Everything
The holy grail of physics is to unify the two fundamental theories of mathematical physics - the general theory of relativity and quantum field theory - into a unified theory, sometimes called the Theory of Everything. To understand the relation between First Science and the Theory of Everything, we first need to resolve the self-referential paradox. Many scientists and philosophers have suspected that there might be an unknowable domain of the universe that we cannot in principle know. The problem with this idea is that it leads to the self-referential paradox. From a logical perspective, to know the unknowable requires knowledge of the unknowable, which is a contradiction. |
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This paradox is resolved by logical deduction from the cornerstone of First Science, the unifying principle "laws of nature exist". Laws of nature are, by definition, constant. But if the laws of nature are constant, then the processes that maintain their constancy must be inaccessible to us. Otherwise it would be possible to interfere with these processes thereby changing the laws of nature - a contradiction. Now if these processes are inaccessible then they are, in principle, unknowable. Therefore, there exists an unknowable domain of the universe. |
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Between the knowable and unknowable processes is an interface. Since the Theory of Everything (ToE) provides the foundations of the knowable domain, it is the interface between the knowable and unknowable processes (this interface has dual properties, also providing the interface between the classical and quantum worlds and between general relativity and quantum mechanics). A theoretical and empirical analysis shows that space-time-energy provides the metaphysical entities of the interface. Space-time-energy are both knowable and unknowable. We know of space, time (space-time), and energy but we do not know what they are made of or the physical mechanisms between them. Using this interface, it is possible to retain the results of mathematical physics whilst logically gaining insights into a number of outstanding problems in physics (see book). For example, the source of the space-time symmetries; the structure of the constants of nature; the source of the principles underlying special relativity, general relativity, and (most likely) quantum mechanics; the rationale for quantum mechanics; the interpretation of quantum mechanics; the explanation for many outstanding problems of the standard model of particle physics; and the unification of physics. |
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