Where Did It All Come From?

[TheRedneckProfessor]

Occam's Razor explained and applied to the scientific method:

 

 

[pantheory]

5 hours ago, walterpthefirst said:

This thread has relied completely on what science tells us about the universe and so how science works cannot be untangled from the data, evidence, ideas and concepts discussed in this thread.  If we are wrong or mistaken about what science does or how it should work then this will skew our understanding of this thread just as surely as Einstein's understanding of the universe was skewed by his expectation of what it should have been.

 

We have discussed the use of Occam's Razor in science.  There has been some disagreement about how it should be used.  But the issue of how it should be used is fundamental to all science and fundamental to this thread too.  I would now like to present an example of an ongoing problem in astronomy.  One that demonstrates that an overreliance on or a misuse of Occam's Razor is damaging to our understanding of nature.

 

 

 THE SIMPLE EXPLANATION

In a nutshell the science of thermodynamics tells us that in nature heat always flows from hot to cold.  There are no exceptions to this rule.  Our everyday experience agrees with this and it is a concept we are all readily familiar with.  A campfire is hottest when you are closest to it and not when you are far away.  The more distance you put between yourself and the source of the heat the colder it gets.  Simple.

 

 

But if I were a scientist studying the Sun I would find that Mother Nature has thrown me a curveball.

 

Stellar corona - Wikipedia

 

The coronal heating problem in solar physics relates to the question of why the temperature of the Sun's corona [atmosphere] is millions of kelvins versus the thousands of kelvins of the surface.

 

The temperature of the surface of the Sun is 5,726 degrees C, but its atmosphere is just under a 1,000,000 degrees C.  This is a 200-fold increase in temperature.  According to the simplest explanation, using the laws of thermodynamics, the further away from the source of greatest heat that you get the colder it should get.

 

The source of greatest heat in the Sun is it's core, which is calculated to be 15,000,000 degrees C.  Inside the Sun, the further we get away from the core the more temperature drops until, at its surface, it's under 6,000 degrees C.  But then, when we move even further away from the core the temperature suddenly jumps 200-fold to 1,000,000 degrees C.

 

Something is clearly wrong here.

 

The simplest explanation, using thermodynamics, seems to contradict the evidence.  Therefore, as a scientist, what am I to do?  Bring the evidence into alignment with my simple thermodynamic expectation or concede that the simplest explanation is of no help in solving this problem?

 

What should I do, Pantheory?

 

Should I go with my personal preference for simplicity or should I yield to the evidence?

 

The foundation of all my explanations has been logic, not science. There no longer is any mainstream science related to the very beginning of the universe since it was deleted from theory, but mostly because such a theory cannot be tested or disproved, therefore it is not science. It is simply logical or it is not. Depending upon the details, it could also be speculation, which could be the beginnings of a hypothesis if it could be tested somehow.

 

 

[walterpthefirst]

4 minutes ago, pantheory said:

 

The foundation of all my explanations has been logic, not science. There no longer is any mainstream science related to the very beginning of the universe since it was deleted from theory, but mostly because such a theory cannot be tested or disproved, therefore it is not science. It is simply logical or it is not. Depending upon the details, it could also be speculation, which could be the beginnings of a hypothesis if it could be tested somehow.

 

 

 

Now please answer my question about the solar corona problem, Pantheory.

 

 

 

[pantheory]

16 minutes ago, walterpthefirst said:

 

Now please answer my question about the solar corona problem, Pantheory.

 

 

Be glad to give you my opinion on a different thread of your making.

[walterpthefirst]

4 hours ago, pantheory said:

Be glad to give you my opinion on a different thread of your making.

 

Done.