PHILOSOPHY OF PHYSICAL EXPERIMENT AND OBSERVATION IN THE ERA OF BIG DATA AND COMPUTER MODELING
V.A. Mukin, K.A. Nikitin
Chuvash State University named after I.N. Ulyanov, Cheboksary, Russia
Keywords: philosophy of science, physical experiment, computer modeling, big data, epistemology, Higgs boson, gravitational waves, machine learning, reflection
Abstract
The article examines the transformation of the epistemological status of experiment in modern physics in conditions of digitalization and the growth of computing power. It shows that the classical ideal of a reproducible experiment, based on the division of labor between theorist and experimenter, is losing its unambiguity. Using the examples of the discovery of the Higgs boson and gravitational waves, the hybrid nature of the modern scientific fact is demonstrated; this fact is constructed at the intersection of theoretical model, statistical processing, and computer simulation. Special attention is paid to the problem of “black boxes” in machine learning and the need to develop criteria for epistemic trust in algorithms. The thesis about the new role for philosophy is substantiated: it turns from an external critic into an internal methodologist of hybrid research practices, helping scientists to recognize the limits of their models and interpretations. The relevance of this approach is confirmed by contemporary research in the philosophy and methodology of science, including works on synergetics and interdisciplinarity.
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