HalFinney comments on Think Like Reality - Less Wrong

49 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 02 May 2007 06:36AM

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Comment author: HalFinney 03 May 2007 01:46:50AM 0 points [-]

One thing that happens with new theories is that at first they seem strange, but then gradually the concepts filter into the popular consciousness and then they are easier to accept. It's commonplace to say, "everything is relative", or "the observer affects what he observes". Also, better ways are found to instruct students in the principles, which also helps with acceptance. QM and relativity do not seem all that odd to me, because I have known about them for so long.

One theory that still baffles me is the holographic principle, which suggests that space is actually two-dimensional. The third dimension is an illusion. Informed by Eliezer's commentary, I will no longer say, "How bizarre that is!" but rather, "How bizarre I am!"

Comment author: pnrjulius 05 June 2012 05:01:27PM 1 point [-]

Don't jump the gun; we have no experimental confirmation of the holographic principle.

Unlike say the Schrodinger equation, which is one of the most precisely verified equations in the history of physics.