causal

All Explanation Does Not Reduce To Physics

While a system's ontology may supervene entirely on physics (e.g., a computer is nothing but configured atoms), explanation and scientific understanding do not all reduce to physics: higher-level categories (computational, biological, economic) provide genuine insight a complete physical calculation cannot, and these disciplines are actually broader because their explanations would survive even radical changes in fundamental physics.

causalpending

Speaker

Tim Maudlin

Evidence Quote

the computer science has actually given me much better information or understanding than the physicist does

Source

318 - Physics PhilosophyMaking Sense with Sam Harris
Created: 6/14/2026, 1:58:49 AM

My Notes

Loading notes...