PHD Discussions Logo

Ask, Learn and Accelerate in your PhD Research

Question Icon Post Your Answer

Question Icon

Do physical laws include principles of prevention as well as causation?

In my theoretical work, I often use variational principles. It strikes me that laws like the least action principle don't just describe cause-and-effect sequences; they seem to act as constraints that prevent non-extremal paths. I'm wrestling with this conceptual duality in foundational physics.

All Answers (1 Answers In All)

By Rassika Jain Answered 2 years ago

This gets to the very heart of how we formulate physics. I would recommend thinking of causation as the narrative within a story, and these preventative principles as the grammar that makes the narrative coherent. The second law of thermodynamics, for instance, is fundamentally a constraint it prevents decreases in total entropy. In my experience, the most powerful laws, like least action, are indeed these restrictive frameworks. They don't dictate the single cause, but define the entire landscape of possible causes and effects.

 

Your Answer