XPost: sci.physics.relativity, sci.math   
   From: wthyde1953@gmail.com   
      
   J. J. Lodder wrote:   
   > Aether Regained  wrote:   
   >   
   >> Bertietaylor:> On Sat, 5 Jul 2025 19:43:23 +0000, Stefan Ram wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> Aether Regained  wrote or quoted:   
   >>>> |                                                              The   
   >>>> |evidence for the positron is a lot stronger than the evidence for say   
   >>>> |quarks.   
   >>>   
   >>> There is plenty of evidence for Harry Potter and his broomstick.   
   >>   
   >> Physical evidence is of course primary, and the evidence from cloud   
   >> chamber tracks (under magnetic fields) is solid.   
   >>   
   >> Still I like this philosophical argument probably due to Dirac or   
   >> Feynman (paraphrased):   
   >>   
   >> It is extremely remarkable that the electron and the proton are so   
   >> unlike each other, and yet have EXACTLY EQUAL (and opposite) charge. The   
   >> positron on the other hand, having the same mass as the electron, is not   
   >> as much of a miracle as the proton. It would not be very surprising if   
   >> the exactly equal charge of the proton is really derived from an   
   >> embedded positron.   
   >   
   > Nonsense.   
   > The quarks and electrons get their charges   
   > from a common underlying gauge symmetry,   
      
   Yes, but the above quote, if it is accurate, is probably a reflection of   
   Wheeler's 1930s attempts to show that all particles are some combination   
   of electrons, positrons, and photons.  From his biography I get the   
   impression that he regarded the idea as somewhat whimsical, but worth a try.   
      
   Wheeler liked to try out extreme positions.  In the 1930s he hoped to   
   describe the universe as a group of particles without fields, later as a   
   group of fields without particles.   
      
   As you know well, but others may not, the brief summaries I give of   
   Wheeler's ideas above are at best a vast oversimplification.   
      
   William Hyde   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)