What is metaphysics ?
In: Physics
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Metaphysics is not physics. It is a branch of philosophy not science.
It approaches, from a philosophical (rather than scientific) perspective, ideas about existence; what exists, what it means for something to exist, what is “it”.
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“Normal” physics usually deals with measurable things (like how fast things can go, how they move and behave, how much they weigh that kind of thing) and also working out how to predict what will happen to things (“OK, so if I smash particle A into Particle B, we should see Particles D and E ping off somewhere”)
“Metaphysics” handles the weird questions, like what is time? What is consciousness? If nothing changes, how do we measure time? Can something that is impossible to observe or measure be said to exist? What does it mean for something to “exist”?
It’s actually a branch of philosophy rather than physics, but it comes in useful at the very “edge” of physics in those areas we’re still investigating (e.g. black holes), so sometimes there’s a bit of a crossover where questions in physics lead to metaphysical problems.
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