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tehnub | 22 days ago

I don't think that argument holds up. See quantum mechanics.

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pfdietz|22 days ago

Quantum mechanics is demonstrable on a lab bench (or smaller), so your counterargument is completely wrong.

Any useful consequence of a physical effect is, in effect, an experiment that could test that effect. So if the smallest test is with a machine the size of a small country, no device using the effect can be smaller.

tehnub|22 days ago

They’re using big things to do experiments. Maybe they discover some new physical effect. How do you know that that effect couldn’t be demonstrated in some smaller scale experiment after it’s understood better?

lefra|22 days ago

The first working transistor was centimeter-scale, now billions of them fit in that space.

The first useful internal combustion engines were room-sized, now they fit on a moped.

The truck-sized hole in your argument is talking about "the smallest test". First discoveries/demonstrations of interesting phenomenons don't typically happen at the smallest scale (why would they?).