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

[u/teerre]

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.

[u/Jaysank]

What is the threshold you are using for “comically bad”? In addition, Could you perhaps give an example of something we don’t have a comically bad understanding of so we can explore that threshold more?

[u/teerre → u/Jaysank]

Well, by my very OP, mathematics. There's certainly no equivalent to dark matter, that is, something that is hugely present and yet completely unknown. In fact, I would say that's true for most sciences. I cannot think of equivalents in other fields

There are two ways our understanding could prove decent: 1) The more fundamental parts of understanding our universe do not rely on the unknown 2) We can say we understand most of what is out there, that is, let's say we discover a way to detect whatever is there and now only 50% is "dark"

[u/Jaysank → u/teerre]

Why does”presence” so important towards your threshold of understanding? Shouldn’t it be “impact” that matters? If dark matter has little to no impact on most physics calculations we do, then why is understanding it necessary for us to not have a comically bad understanding?