I think the evidence against (most) miracles is stronger because they violate the laws of physics. Although I think the same could be said for a few UAPs—if a UAP moves in a way that is physically impossible as far as we know, that’s strong evidence against it being aliens, because aliens still have to follow the laws of physics.
How would a tic-tac to accelerate at 700g with no visible propulsion, even positing the existence of super-advanced technology? The best I can think of off the top of my head is that it’s using an extremely strong magnet to manipulate its position relative to earth’s magnetic field. But that would require an absurd amount of energy so it would probably need to be powered by a tiny cold fusion reactor (which may be physically impossible), and it would still need to avoid emitting noticeable amounts of heat, and even if it has some sort of hyper-insulating shell, it would need internal parts that don’t evaporate under that much heat, and also need to avoid emitting the massive amount of heat that would be generated by friction with the air.
You do your argument a disservice when you conflate “laws of physics” with “extrapolations of current materials and energy engineering”.
If speed of light isn’t violated, and the force involved isn’t so great that the reaction would be measurable as changes in earth rotation or something, and the energy is much less than the theoretical limit of a small amount of antimatter, it’s not “laws of physics” that is the constraint.
Note I’m not saying you’re wrong in considering it very unlikely, but hyperbole doesn’t help in thinking or in discussion (here on LW, at least—it’s common and perhaps useful in other contexts).
I think the evidence against (most) miracles is stronger because they violate the laws of physics. Although I think the same could be said for a few UAPs—if a UAP moves in a way that is physically impossible as far as we know, that’s strong evidence against it being aliens, because aliens still have to follow the laws of physics.
How would a tic-tac to accelerate at 700g with no visible propulsion, even positing the existence of super-advanced technology? The best I can think of off the top of my head is that it’s using an extremely strong magnet to manipulate its position relative to earth’s magnetic field. But that would require an absurd amount of energy so it would probably need to be powered by a tiny cold fusion reactor (which may be physically impossible), and it would still need to avoid emitting noticeable amounts of heat, and even if it has some sort of hyper-insulating shell, it would need internal parts that don’t evaporate under that much heat, and also need to avoid emitting the massive amount of heat that would be generated by friction with the air.
You do your argument a disservice when you conflate “laws of physics” with “extrapolations of current materials and energy engineering”.
If speed of light isn’t violated, and the force involved isn’t so great that the reaction would be measurable as changes in earth rotation or something, and the energy is much less than the theoretical limit of a small amount of antimatter, it’s not “laws of physics” that is the constraint.
Note I’m not saying you’re wrong in considering it very unlikely, but hyperbole doesn’t help in thinking or in discussion (here on LW, at least—it’s common and perhaps useful in other contexts).
Ok, fair point, I was going too far in assuming that the sort of engineering necessary was physically impossible.