The Student Room Group

What is the most fundamental science?

out of
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Maths
Philosophy/Psychology

plus any other ive forgotten

Scroll to see replies

Maths I suppose
Original post by Trinculo
Maths I suppose


maths stems from philosophy though
Reply 3
Biology is basically chemistry which is basically physics which is basically maths
Reply 4
I think they're all tackling different things. Impossible to compare. However chemistry is probably the most applied, particularly organic synthesis so it probably the least "pure" out of the natural sciences.

It mostly depends on what you think is more important: Discovering the origin of life or discovering the origin of the universe or the nature of consciousness etc etc
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by Blackberryjam
maths stems from philosophy though


Philosophy isn't really science in the sense that it's not universally communicable. I suppose if you mean logic, there might be something to that, but is logic really more fundamental?
Reply 6
Original post by Blackberryjam
maths stems from philosophy though


It really stems from whenever someone decided to assign names to specific quantities, rather than just saying "one" and then "many"
Original post by Sinnoh
Biology is basically chemistry which is basically physics which is basically maths


which is basically philosophy, and philosophy could only be possible with the mental processes that psychology has hypothesised but everything psychological stems from biology (biological functions from brain) which is basically chemistry which is.....
Original post by Trinculo
Philosophy isn't really science in the sense that it's not universally communicable. I suppose if you mean logic, there might be something to that, but is logic really more fundamental?


yeah i mean logic and i think it is maths is all rooted from logic
Original post by Sinnoh
Biology is basically chemistry which is basically physics which is basically maths


By your logic, it would seem sufficient to arrive at the following conclusion - "Biology is basically Maths". But there seems something inherently wrong with that. Calling Chemistry "basically" Physics or Biology "basically" Chemistry is a wrong perception in the society in which we live in. Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Maths, while they overlap in many parts, they do not fully depend on another science. Take this example, if Biology is "basically" Chemistry then why would we need to have a science called "Biology" - why couldn't we just extend our biological knowledge to Chemistry. Why? Because Biology is not "basically" Chemistry - otherwise a chemist would be able to do a biologist's work, yet they cannot.

The idea of a "fundamental" science is inherently flawed because their success is immeasurable and hardly comparable.
Well Duh,

Psychology is essentially applied biology is essentially applied chemistry is essentially applied physics is essentially applied Maths.

Anyone who says any differently is a butt.

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Logic under philosophy I guess. Theories in the sciences you've listed are often underpinned by logical axioms.
Reply 12
Original post by Blackberryjam
which is basically philosophy, and philosophy could only be possible with the mental processes that psychology has hypothesised but everything psychological stems from biology (biological functions from brain) which is basically chemistry which is.....


Not really. Before consciousness (and therefore the concept of study or science) existed natural processes would have still happened.
When we make physical models, that is all they can be. They're used to predict the future (or the past). Just as an example, light behaves as if it were a particle and wave. Atoms behave as if they are comprised of protons and neutrons. Particles themselves exist as if they are simply a zero-dimensional point in space with certain properties. As it happens, these models are incredibly accurate to what we observe in experiments, so we use them. We probably can't definitively know, but these models do a pretty good job of describing and predicting the behaviours of things.

So, with the absence of the human brain to do anything with these, I don't think it's an infinite loop
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by Blackberryjam
which is basically philosophy, and philosophy could only be possible with the mental processes that psychology has hypothesised but everything psychological stems from biology (biological functions from brain) which is basically chemistry which is.....


No, this is silly. This is like saying that a live chicken is basically a chicken nugget.

If you have a PhD in Maths, but know nothing about biology and someone asks you how the liver works, you will have absolutely no clue, and you can't derive that knowledge from mathematics.
Reply 14
Original post by New Wonder
By your logic, it would seem sufficient to arrive at the following conclusion - "Biology is basically Maths". But there seems something inherently wrong with that. Calling Chemistry "basically" Physics or Biology "basically" Chemistry is a wrong perception in the society in which we live in. Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Maths, while they overlap in many parts, they do not fully depend on another science. Take this example, if Biology is "basically" Chemistry then why would we need to have a science called "Biology" - why couldn't we just extend our biological knowledge to Chemistry. Why? Because Biology is not "basically" Chemistry - otherwise a chemist would be able to do a biologist's work, yet they cannot.

The idea of a "fundamental" science is inherently flawed because their success is immeasurable and hardly comparable.


It was meant as a joke, not as a serious answer. Thought that would be obvious. Not everyone is here to argue with you.
Original post by Pro Crastination
Logic under philosophy I guess. Theories in the sciences you've listed are often underpinned by logical axioms.


Ah, yes, but that's been pinned under psychology (for some reason. The OP is a bit wrong putting that there, it should really go alongside Maths if it goes anywhere.)
Original post by vicvic38
Well Duh,

Psychology is essentially applied biology is essentially applied chemistry is essentially applied physics is essentially applied Maths.

Anyone who says any differently is a butt.

smug wojak.png


maths is applied logic (philosophy)
Original post by vicvic38
Ah, yes, but that's been pinned under psychology (for some reason. The OP is a bit wrong putting that there, it should really go alongside Maths if it goes anywhere.)


yeah my bad i realise my mistake i shouldn’t have out them together
Original post by Trinculo
No, this is silly. This is like saying that a live chicken is basically a chicken nugget.

If you have a PhD in Maths, but know nothing about biology and someone asks you how the liver works, you will have absolutely no clue, and you can't derive that knowledge from mathematics.


i was taking the mick out of his statement saying that biology is basically chemistry which we can agree is silly. however he says he was joking
Original post by Blackberryjam
maths is applied logic (philosophy)


It's pinned under Psychology here (which I disagree with, and if it was single, I would put it at the top of the chain) so no, you're a butt.



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