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[Phys-L] Re: model vs. truth



... as theories make more accurate and more general predictions we
consider them better than older theories which made less accurate
and less general predictions. Isn't the limit as t goes to infinity
truth?

I wouldn't say that, but it clearly depends on what you mean by
"truth." I might be willing to say that the limit is "correctness,"
but it seems to me that "truth" involves a more than mere
correctness. I would say thatt truth involves the "why," not merely
the "what." No matter how good our models get at predicting (or
postdicting), they will never unto themselves address the "why."

Moreover, even if you DO want to define "truth" as the limit of the
process, limits are not in general reached. The limit as t goes to
infinity of exp(-t) IS zero but there is NO value of t for which
exp(-t) is 0.
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