VISMAYA: History & Philosophy of Physics

Tag: philosophy

  • Perhaps…truth..

    Perhaps it is not a question of truth, but it is the reaction to the truth. Perhaps it is not the feeling of the truth, but the consequence of knowing that truth can be so deep and yet can reach so far. Perhaps truth, which is generally considered slow, can intrigue our minds and revisit us instantaneously.

    Is there anything called ‘the truth’? The truth itself may look like a transient, but again, the question remains: Is truth so important? A scientist, an artist, a curious mind is in search of truth, in their own way. The vocabulary, the picture, and the question may have textures and different forms, but there is a strange kind of unity in the pursuit of the truth. A human life is perhaps worth living and perhaps worth pursuing in the pursuit of this truth. Perhaps that is the lesson. We need to relearn, unlearn, and teach ourselves that truth matters for humanity.

    As we search for truth, peace, and knowledge, we realize that none of these is independent of the others. Perhaps a few human beings in the history of humankind have made an attempt to attain the ‘truth’. They don’t remain with us, but the pursuit remains. Perhaps humans are transient, and truth is a constant. Perhaps…that is a truth.

  • Conversation with Nagarjuna G.

    Professor G. Nagarjuna is a visiting professor at IISER Pune, following his professorship at Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (TIFR, Mumbai).

    He is a dedicated teacher and researcher who explores how science and philosophy intersect. In this episode, we explore his journey, which spans from studying biology to teaching science education and using technology. He is passionate about free software, open-source learning, and developing unique ways to map out how we build and share knowledge like a giant, connected network.

    References:

    Gnowledge Lab. ‘Welcome to Gnowledge Lab!’ Accessed 14 September 2026. https://www.gnowledge.org/.

    Science, Cognitive Science of. ‘The Roots of STEM | Cognitive Science of Science | Substack’. 11 September 2026. https://gnowgi.substack.com/.

    Gnowledge Lab. ‘Latest Projects’. Accessed 14 September 2026. https://www.gnowledge.org/latest-projects.html.

    Gnowledge Lab. ‘Publications’. Accessed 14 September 2026. https://www.gnowledge.org/publications.html.

    Gnowledge Lab. ‘Research Projects’. Accessed 14 September 2026. https://www.gnowledge.org/projects/research.html.

    Gnowledge Lab. ‘Resources’. Accessed 14 September 2026. https://www.gnowledge.org/projects/resources.html.

    Living Academy – A Life-Long Kindergarten! 4 April 2025. https://www.livingacademy.org/.

    ChatShaala. ‘ChatShaala – chatShaala for Life-Long STEM Education! Collaborative Open Online and Ongoing Learning through STEM Games, Activities and Projects and Earn Badges from the Referees!’ Accessed 17 September 2026. https://metastudio.org/.

  • Academia in the age of AI: Known Goals, searching for a better process

    The value of education is in understanding the world and responding to it. This understanding and responding are based on collective human knowledge. To obtain that knowledge is one of the main goals of education. Academia provides a platform, time and cohort to learn and interact with it.
    The result of education is the development of the mind and character. Of course, all this can be achieved outside academia, too. Just that it will have to displace, or at best, substitute for another activity. Whereas in academia, everything works ‘for’ education. Replacing academia may be an idea people are thinking of. The question remains what will be the form of its replacement.
    I don’t have a concrete answer to this, but I guess it will not be a YouTube channel. Nor will it be an AI chat box. These are great tools that can enhance education, but by themselves have primary goals that are different from what education tries to accomplish: a better human mind and a better human character.
    In its better form, academia’s explicit goals are exactly this. We humans, don’t have an alternative to academia (yet). Until then, we need to focus on the question: how can academia reinvent itself for the already bubbling AI era? Humans will be central to this transformation, of course, assisted by machines. The product of this transformation will be better human beings, and hopefully a better planet.
    We know the goal. The confusion is in the process and means to that goal.

  • Process <–> Results

  • Navier-Stokes under an AI torch..

    There is a major development reported on the Navier-Stokes equation, driven by AI agents

    A couple of thoughts on N-S buzz:

    1] Energy and resource expenditure are finite and constrained. AI companies dominate in LLM domains, and not (yet) in the physical 3D domain. That transition will perhaps be a greater leap, but probably the most challenging one. A great bridge built in America does not solve a problem in India, even when we have the complete knowledge and tools to build the bridge. Transferable solutions are easier to transfer in the software domain compared to hardware.

    2] Human intervention is still needed. The definition of a scientific problem can be objective, but the pursuit of science (or maths) has to be anchored in the historical, philosophical and sociological setting. Humans will play a dominant role there, and a complete transition towards machines will be of lesser interest to humans.

    We are in interesting and exhilarating times driven by AI info-tech, but we must pause to reflect as humans and ask what the implications are on our thinking and living. The answer will be interesting to study.

    ps:

    Below is the message from the American Mathematical Society, and it puts the humans at the center of this development, which was heartening to read.

    “The news today of progress on resolving the Navier–Stokes problem, one of mathematics’ great longstanding challenges concerning the equations that govern the flow of fluids, represents a milestone advance in human knowledge. This story began with Navier, Stokes, Leray, and Ladyzhenskaya and has culminated in the recent breakthroughs of Córdoba and Martínez-Zoroa, then — assisted by new technologies — Alpöge and Buckmaster, with the final steps taken by OpenAI mathematicians. The purpose of mathematics is human understanding, and this achievement, and the process that led to it, will bear fruit for a long time to come.”
    Ravi Vakil, President of the AMS
    John Meier, CEO of the AMS

  • A more realistic view of science through history..

  • Even transients have to wait…

    Everything has to wait, including the transients…

    If you sight a star
    on a rainy night,
    you need to wait
    to see the passing cloud.
    The transient here is
    not only the cloud,
    but your patience too.

    Rain comes and goes,
    so does the night.
    Even the star will
    not outlast.
    So does your memory.
    But you need to wait…

  • Popper’s first teacher

    In his formative years, Karl Popper, the celebrated philosopher of science, had a cabinetmaker as his first teacher. His introduction to epistemology was through an apprenticeship in a furniture shop.

    As he mentions: “I believe I learned more about the theory of knowledge from my dear omniscient master Adalbert Pösch than from any other of my teachers. None did so much to turn me into a disciple of Socrates. For it was my master who taught me not only how very little I knew but also that any wisdom to which I might ever aspire could consist only in realizing more fully the infinity of my ignorance.” (Popper, 2002, p. 2)

    Hands + Mind, you see.

    ref: Popper, Karl R.; Unended Quest, p 2 (2002)

  • Making meaning…Shivarudrappa’s style

    GS Shivarudrappa‘s eloquence:
    (lines in Kannada followed by an English translation)

    ….ಎಲ್ಲ ಕೇಳಲಿ ಎಂದು ನಾನು ಹಾಡುವುದಿಲ್ಲ
    ಹಾಡುವುದು ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯ ಕರ್ಮ ನನಗೆ…..

    “…I do not sing so that everyone might listen
    Singing is, for me, an indispensable act…”

    Finding personal meaning in what we do remains the biggest motivators of work. The poet uses the metaphor of a singer to make this point. As usual, translation does not do justice to the actual rhythm of the lines, but the meaning by itself is well worth admiration, and Shivrudrappa captures it exquisitely. The lyrics of the full poem are available online, and LLMs can translate them reasonably.

    Dr. G.S. Shivarudrappa
    Image credit: Deccan Herald

    In Kannada (as in many Indian languages), this celebrated poem also takes the form of music (in this case, bhavageethae, a musical genre in Kannada music). By combining music with poetry, language and the underlying philosophy gets deeply registered in the minds.

    Strange thing…this human brain. Strange connections between…poetry, music and philosophy.

  • Unified view of Physics: a discussion