It seems implausible that a physical theory of the universe, especially one so fundamental to our understanding of matter, would have literally no practical implications. The geocentric and heliocentric model of the solar system give you the same predictions about where the stars will be in the sky, but the heliocentric model gives some important implications for the ethics of space travel. Other scientific revolutions have similarly had enormous effects on our interpretation of the world.
Can you point to why this physical dispute is different?
Without heliocentrism (and its extension to other stars), it seems that the entire idea of going to space and colonizing the stars would not be on the table, because we wouldn’t fundamentally even understand what stuff was out there. Since colonizing space is arguably the number one long-term priority for utilitarians, heliocentrism is therefore a groundbreaking theory of immense ethical importance. Without it, we would not have any desire to expand beyond the Earth.
I tend to prefer dealing with applications, not implications
It seems implausible that a physical theory of the universe, especially one so fundamental to our understanding of matter, would have literally no practical implications. The geocentric and heliocentric model of the solar system give you the same predictions about where the stars will be in the sky, but the heliocentric model gives some important implications for the ethics of space travel. Other scientific revolutions have similarly had enormous effects on our interpretation of the world.
Can you point to why this physical dispute is different?
What are those implications? I tend to prefer dealing with applications, not implications, so not sure what you mean.
Without heliocentrism (and its extension to other stars), it seems that the entire idea of going to space and colonizing the stars would not be on the table, because we wouldn’t fundamentally even understand what stuff was out there. Since colonizing space is arguably the number one long-term priority for utilitarians, heliocentrism is therefore a groundbreaking theory of immense ethical importance. Without it, we would not have any desire to expand beyond the Earth.
Colonizing the universe is indeed an application.
Well, if you have a space program and you’re dealing with crystal spheres...
Then exploring these crystal spheres without crashing into them might be a thing to do. Applications.