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[theory of everything, physics, nothing new to be discovered, kelvin]
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The Theory of Everything
Physics and Humanity

The term Theory of Everything, or General Theory of Everything, seems to have been initially used somewhat ironically in association with efforts that were thought to be made by individual theoretical physicists to develop a theory that could link Everything together - the everything in the case being ALL physical phenomena.
It later came to be used more specifically, and with less irony, in relation to the possibility that Quantum Physics could come up with a theory of everything that would explain all the fundamental interactions of the physical universe.

There is nothing new to be discovered in physics
stamp collecting and the mind of God

Physicists can be rather ambitious about their particular discipline as the following quotations and quotes illustrate:-
In 1900 Lord Kelvin is reputed to have said:-
"There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement."

- Other physicists subsequently developed far-reaching theories of relativity and of quantum mechanics!

In the nineteen thirties Sir Ernest Rutherford said:-
"All science is either physics or stamp collecting."

Rutherford may have been "only teasing a little" but his statement nevertheless recognises that Physics has more capacity for developing an over-arching theory about the physical world than other sciences!

The closing paragraph of Stephen Hawking's most famous book A Brief History of Time (1988) reads:-
"However, if we discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable by everyone, not just by a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we should know the mind of God."

Towards a Theory of Everything "Human"

It may, or may not, prove possible to develop a theory that offers to explain all the fundamental interactions of the physical universe BUT we, as Human Beings, might be excused for also taking an interest in an aspect of everything that the present "physics specific" theory neglects i.e. our Humanity itself.
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   "...man is a bundle of relations, a knot of roots,
  whose flower and fruitage is the world..."

Ralph Waldo Emerson
[Theory of Everything. TOE]


It seems highly likely that such Human-innate
"bundles of relations and knots of roots"
give rise to the "World" of Human Societies!!!

Explore Human Nature through our
Human Nature - Tripartite Soul page

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The Theory of Everything
Physics and Humanity