I've always found it intriguing how different people are interested in different questions in physics. For the most part, I feel much the same way about particle physics... if we found out exactly what the theory was from here all the way up to the Planck scale, I'd probably quit physics. Even though there are a lot of unsolved problems in condensed matter, atomic physics, biophysics, etc.
For me, cosmology is mainly interesting because it gives us a way to test particle physics which is (in my opinion) where all the really fundamental foundational questions lie. In other words, I see the early universe as interesting primarily because it's the only time when things got hot enough to where low energy physics breaks down... something that would be too expensive to build an accelerator to do. But I'm aware that some (maybe most) cosmologists see things kind of in reverse. From things you've said, I gather that you're one of those who sees things in reverse from me, and that's fine... if that's where I thought the interesting questions were, I'd do the same thing.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2007-04-09 08:32 pm (UTC)For me, cosmology is mainly interesting because it gives us a way to test particle physics which is (in my opinion) where all the really fundamental foundational questions lie. In other words, I see the early universe as interesting primarily because it's the only time when things got hot enough to where low energy physics breaks down... something that would be too expensive to build an accelerator to do. But I'm aware that some (maybe most) cosmologists see things kind of in reverse. From things you've said, I gather that you're one of those who sees things in reverse from me, and that's fine... if that's where I thought the interesting questions were, I'd do the same thing.