Daniel Estrada commented on a video on YouTube.
+John Baez I wonder if you could say a little more about the "big picture" of network theory. What do you think the world needs a new kind of math for?
More specifically, you've talked about how network theory lets the different scientific disciplines "talk to each other". How far do you think that goes? What role do you see network theory playing in relation to the project of scientific unification?
When you talk about unification with physicists they usually mean a GUT of some sort, but I mean 'unification' in the more general sense used in the philosophy of science (See: http://goo.gl/oTyD28)
Basically I'd like to know how systematically you think network theory can be applied across the sciences, and what implications (if any) it might have for the debates in the foundations of the sciences, for instance, concerning the autonomy of the special sciences (http://goo.gl/8F55lv).
I know of places where you've expressed skepticism at the too-quick application of physical theory to human behavior (http://goo.gl/y96cd6), and in general you've been very careful in your examples and applications. I'm certainly not asking you to say more than careful science allows. Still, papers like your Rosetta Stone (http://goo.gl/Dr8if) seem to hint at something more profound than merely easing communication. I wonder to what extent you explicitly see this work as contributing to the project of unification.
Thank you!
More specifically, you've talked about how network theory lets the different scientific disciplines "talk to each other". How far do you think that goes? What role do you see network theory playing in relation to the project of scientific unification?
When you talk about unification with physicists they usually mean a GUT of some sort, but I mean 'unification' in the more general sense used in the philosophy of science (See: http://goo.gl/oTyD28)
Basically I'd like to know how systematically you think network theory can be applied across the sciences, and what implications (if any) it might have for the debates in the foundations of the sciences, for instance, concerning the autonomy of the special sciences (http://goo.gl/8F55lv).
I know of places where you've expressed skepticism at the too-quick application of physical theory to human behavior (http://goo.gl/y96cd6), and in general you've been very careful in your examples and applications. I'm certainly not asking you to say more than careful science allows. Still, papers like your Rosetta Stone (http://goo.gl/Dr8if) seem to hint at something more profound than merely easing communication. I wonder to what extent you explicitly see this work as contributing to the project of unification.
Thank you!
