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Jack comments on Hypotheses For Dualism - Less Wrong
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Perhaps we have different underlying philosophies in what it means to understand something. I feel like I understand something when I know the mechanism for it. And then I can abstract that mechanism, so that I understand other systems that rely on that same mechanism.
For example, in the case of rubber deformation, once I understand the deformation of rubber, I understand the deformation of any elastic, non-compressible material. (Forgive me if I’m cloudy on the full number of necessary assumptions required – I’d have to pick up a textbook on this topic since it’s been a few years.) But I have a mental picture of a network of “molecules” connected by springs that deform and relay pressure. Thus I understand anything that works like this – regardless of what the “molecules” are.
But is this how gravity works? Not necessarily; many different mechanisms can result in the same pattern. Without knowing the mechanism for gravity, I can’t say I understand it.
But I have encountered persons who feel that prediction is understanding, which is what I meant by us possibly having different philosophies about understanding.
But rubber molecules don't actually have springs. It is a structural analogy. The same kind of structural analogy as comparing space-time to rubber. I do think these analogy are a little specious but they're ubiquitous.
Rubber molecules are springs, approximately, which can be verified experiments.
(Not 'spring' in the sense of a metal coil, but spring in the sense of Hooke's law.)
That is .... ideally. I guess if you examine the details, natural rubber isn't so accurately a Hookean material.
But the point isn't whether I'm an expert in the properties of real rubber (I'm not) but whether 'we' (modern science) understand the deformation of rubber, and we do, especially if we mean for some simplified, idealized concept of rubber. (You can google scholar 'rubber deformation', but already Wikipedia is convincing.) There are definitely boundaries to this understanding -- we don't understand everything about it, but it's much more than just understanding an analogy.
I see. I guess then my question is: why should we think that gravity needs more of an explanation? We can understand material elasticity in terms of their molecular bonding but why should we think there is an equivalent means of explanation for gravity? Maybe there is nothing left to reduce it to. If thats the case then I don't think it makes sense to say we don't understand enough about gravity- we'd understand all that anyone could.