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From: augeri@regina.DEC (Mike Augeri)
Newsgroups: net.physics
Subject: Re: Aesthetics and intuition in physics
Message-ID: <2647@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 12-Jun-85 15:59:36 EDT
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Posted: Wed Jun 12 15:59:36 1985
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lll-crg!brooks writes:

> Give me a break,  aesthetics and intuition like beauty are in the the eye
> of the beholder!  The bottom line for physical theory is whether or not it
> is in agreement with experimental data, not just one part of it but ALL if it.

I think that lll-crg!brooks passes off aesthetics and intuition a little
too lightly.  I think that it is important that the supporting description
of a theory appeal to people's aesthetics and intuition.  I think that many
physicists also must feel this way otherwise why would they spend so much
time devising thought experiments to help us visualize the abstract
mathematical descriptions of theories?  Further, I think that the person
who formulated the theory must have applied his/her intuition in order to
formulate the theory in the first place.  The difficult part is
communicating that intuition to others so that they can understand the
theory.  As for aesthetics, it seems to me that the belief that nature
should exhibit symmetry is an admission that aesthetics is important in
formulating our vision of the universe.

	Mike Augeri (DEC, Maynard MA, USA)