Physics divides the world into two parts: the laws, and the initial conditions upon which those laws act. The metaphor is courtroom-like: the law itself stands above, while the specific case begins from the initial state of affairs.
But “initial conditions” are not given by nature. They are a construct of the modeller, a frame placed around some arbitrary “first moment.” To call them “initial” is to smuggle in a linear temporality, as if processes had an absolute beginning, and to elevate causality into a metaphysical principle. What counts as “initial” depends entirely on perspective: one person’s boundary is another’s continuation.
By presupposing initial conditions, physics naturalises a construal. It reifies the starting line of a race that was never marked on the ground. The world is not waiting for laws to act upon its initial states. What we call “initial conditions” are simply cuts in experience — perspectival placements, not ontological features.
No comments:
Post a Comment