This is an interesting question about where symmetry laws came from, but the possible implication someone might make from your question, that ancient religions like those based on Platonic ideals might be based on real communication from God because they sometimes approximate scientific ideas, is invalid.

Otherwise rational religious people sometimes look to logic to support their irrationality. For example, wings were added to angels when rational people could no longer accept all the angels that were supposed to be flying around without any logical means. Notice that the wings placed on angels were big enough for the token rationalists, but still aerodynamically inadequate. Modern believers in angels don't necessarily require them to have wings. If you're going to believe in things that violate the laws of electromagnetism (going through walls), why worry if they also violate the laws of flight?

Religious ideas are influenced by philosophical and scientific ones. When religious ideas seem similar to scientific ones this does NOT suggest that religion is true (that it gets it's ideas straight from God), but, on the contrary, it shows that religion is just another human invention.

When ancient religions have ideas that were out of line with ancient science but matched modern scientific ones, what does that mean? Consider the Dogon's belief that the star Sirius had a companion unknown to science until good enough telescopes were built. Consider Chinese who believed in Yu-chou (space-time). It could be evidence for God if this happened enough. The few times it has happened in our history can be credited to coincidence, lucky guessing.

• Where symmetry laws came from? - doctordick - April 11, 2001 - 19:17 UTC
  • Maybe. - johnpowell - April 11, 2001 - 19:31 UTC
  • Hi Dick - harvey2 - April 11, 2001 - 19:50 UTC
    • True/False - doctordick - April 11, 2001 - 20:11 UTC
      • There is only one symmetry among many asimmetries. - alexander - April 11, 2001 - 20:22 UTC
      • About laws of self-consistency - harvey2 - April 11, 2001 - 20:46 UTC
• Science, Religion, etc. are human activities - harvey2 - April 11, 2001 - 19:23 UTC
  • Science is NOT human invention in contrast to religion. - alexander - April 11, 2001 - 20:10 UTC
    • Ya de ya de ya - harvey2 - April 11, 2001 - 20:56 UTC
      • How come? What else can we have out of symmetries? - alexander - April 11, 2001 - 21:02 UTC
        • Not good enough - harvey2 - April 11, 2001 - 21:19 UTC
          • Incorrect. Pithagor theorem is true by definition. - alexander - April 11, 2001 - 21:41 UTC
            • I don't think you understood me - harvey2 - April 11, 2001 - 22:03 UTC
              • Math tells WHAT Universe IS possible and WHAT IS NOT. - alexander - April 13, 2001 - 00:11 UTC
                • As a side note - harvey1 - April 13, 2001 - 18:41 UTC
                  • Some of us are ignorant! - doctordick - April 13, 2001 - 19:32 UTC
                    • Sure, but let's start a new thread up top (nt) - harvey1 - April 13, 2001 - 19:51 UTC
            • Thespace of our universe - yanniru - April 12, 2001 - 03:27 UTC