'the relationship between thought and reality' (1 Viewer)

[dan.121212]

On the third dot point on the right hand column of 9.2.4 on the syllabus (last page of space), part of the point is:

-'Discuss the relationship between thought and reality

does anyone know how to answer this or what it is asking exactly?

thanks a heap in advance

 

[dan.121212]

anyone?

 

[wogblogger]

heyy
umm i didnt realy bother with that 1
but basically this is what i had

Limitation of thought experiments is that their outcomes often rely upon common sense and sometimes new areas of science dont make immediate sense. Einsteins case is such an example, but his only choice to experiment at near light velocities was thought experiments.

mmm i dnt think we realy need to know too much about this........LOL saying that i bet the HSC this year will put a 8marker on it

 

[dan.121212]

lol yeah BOS can be really stupid putting stuff like that in, i mean sure 'dumb down' the maths in the physics course to make it more appealing to non-maths ppl but dont put stoopid stuff like that in!!! thats philosophy LOL!

oh well, wont bother with that

 

[Sastrawan]

Hey mate, you're just asking for bad luck if you say you're not gonna bother with that thought experiment question - you don't want to lose marks over something that's relatively easy to rote learn an answer to. That said, here's what my Physics teacher gave me as a sample answer for that dot point:

"Explain the relationship between thought experiments and reality in the acceptance of scientific theory."
i) A thought experiment makes predictions based on a particular theoretical model of reality.
ii) The model is only considered VALID (ie. to accurately describe reality) if the predictions it makes are experimentally verified.
iii) A thought experiment is particularly useful if the technology does not yet exist to perform the experiment for real.
iv) give an example that links to the question, probably about Special Relativity

Yes, it's a wishy-washy answer that doesn't mean very much at all, but if you can get that down, it's an easy four or so marks.
Best of luck!

 

[dan.121212]

cheers Sastrawan - u really helped me out

good luk!!

 

[uberturtle]

If it relates to Einstein's theory of special relativity then you must talk about the limitations of real life experiments since it is impossible to achieve the speed of light with current technology. Therefore experiments with speed of light as a factor may only be able to be deduced from thought



and I have seen some exams with questions asking:

"Describe the difference between thought and reality refering specifically to Einstein's theory of special relativity"

usually 2-3 marks i think.

 

[kooltrainer]

shiet, its uberturtle!

 

[uberturtle]

shit, its an inverse paedo.

 

[Almatari]

Usually questions would refer to Einstein's thought experiements.
I'd talk about:
- good theories can be supported through evidence/experiments
- Einstein's theory of relativity initially didn't have supporting evidence (Though experiements weren't real experiments) and go through reasons why his theory could not be tested (technology etc)
- Evidence found later that suports Einstein's theories