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Comment by andyferris | Hacker News Reader

Why are fields non-physical?

Not OP but I think they actually mean non-conforming to deeply held beliefs of an atomic universe a la Democritus

I hope primary school educators are moving past the atomic model, first to subatomic then to quantum fields (even just a hand wavey introduction with no maths)

People hold onto the underlying paradigm they are first taught for an awfully long time even if they logically know better

With particles and atoms you get a good undestanding of chemistry and CRT, probably radioactivity and many other everyday topics. Even Feyman diagrams look quite readable if youimagine the universe is made of small balls.

Quantum field are too weird and without math they are just weird magic. Let kids play with balls until they are big enough to be enlighted.

> People hold onto the underlying paradigm they are first taught for an awfully long time even if they logically know better.

I agree with that, but I don't know how to fix that.

Because they're merely mathematical models of what we experience. They're no more "real" than man-bear pig, although they do have predictive capabilities.

Until they don't.

Ultimately what is real is a philosophical question. Why isn't man-bear pig real? The Imagination Land story arc really delved into this question.

> Because they're merely mathematical models of what we experience.

Particles aren't?

No, the universe is actually made of tiny rubber balls, and I've seen rubber balls so I know they're real. Fields are just mysterious vibes, like ghosts that make your hair stand on end when they pass through you.

But you've never seen an electron.

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