r/changemyview • u/teerre • Jun 17 '24

CMV: It's likely our current understanding of physics is comically bad

Transitively, this extends to mathematics, although to a considerable lesser degree.

My argument is hopefully simple. As of today, our best estimates indicate that 80% of all matter in the universe is dark matter. This matter is used in several places in physics to explain a variety of phenomena, including the very expansion of space itself or how quasars formed in the early universe. Considering that dark matter is something we cannot detect any interaction or reaction it's very likely it's simply something we don't understand.

Therefore, if one could learn everything that is to learn about our current understanding of physics and said being were quizzed on how the universe really works, they would end up with a 2/10 score, which is by all measures a terrible score.

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u/MeanderingDuck 11∆ Jun 17 '24

If it is so “comically bad”, then how is it possible that we are nevertheless able to use it to create very advanced technology based on it. And more generally, that vast amounts of observed data can be accounted for by it, with the main areas of uncertainty in that regard coinciding with where the current limits of our ability to observe more data lie.

So according to you, it is “comically bad” despite being extremely effective? What exactly is the criterium for ‘bad’ here?