Oftentimes I have heard people say the math is theoretically correct but the technology of the time doesn’t allow for the technology to be produced. Can someone explain how we can solve math for someone not physically possible at the current time?
In: Mathematics
We know that certain things are possible with insane amounts of energy. We just can’t do those things because we can’t generate the energy necessary to do so.
We have known about neural networks and how to train them (AI) since the 60s. However, training them requires large amounts of memory and computing powers, which is why its not since the last 10ish years they have really seen an exponential increase in use cases and research interest
I mean it’s pretty much that. We know that the closer something gets to the speed of light the faster time moves for it but it’s very difficult to make something go the speed of light. Another explanation is you don’t need to physically do something to know it will work.
Lets look at a good example.
Einstein’s equations of a space time and general relitivity worked on every observation made in 1916, however when calculating super dense objects moving stupendously fast, it predicted that waves would form in space time. These waves would shift matter distances smaller than the centre of an atom. There was not a way in the world they were detecting that in 1916.
Fast forward 99 years of exponential growth in technology, and humanity had created gravitational wave detectors, sensitive enough to measure these tiny changes. And we saw exactly what was predicted by Einstein back in WW1.
Einstein was 99 years ahead of what technology allowed.
I think it this way. For something to be scientifically true, it has to be proven. Until it’s proven, it’s just a theory. Now, some theories are more obvious than others and easier to prove than others. For example, look at free fall motion, which states that things will fall at the same rate of speed if they are in a vacuum. That’s was a theory. How do you prove it? You test it. How do you test it? Well, you need a vacuum for starters. What’s that you say? You don’t know how to build a vacuum? Well, you’ll just have to wait until someone figures out how to build a vacuum before you can test your theory and prove it. Now, let’s look at black holes. What goes on inside a black hole. Well, we have theories but no proof. So we can guess, but until someone invents a way to look inside one, they just stay theories.
What does this have to do with scientists being ahead of their time? They come up with theories that not only can’t be proven but also may skip a couple of steps. So instead of knowing A and proving B, they know A, guess B and C, and come up with a theory for D that turns out to be true. Their theories are sometimes not proven until many years after they make them.
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