The Unnatural Nature of the Laws of Nature: Symmetry and Asymmetry

It has been a recurring scene: Heinz Post, sitting attentively in the front row, would raise his hand at the end of the talk, turn his head half way towards the audience and respond to the speaker with the following words: “I have this naive question which may have bothered other members of the audience.” He would then proceed to ask what seems on the face of it a naive question, but with some reflection it would transpire that the question is perspicacious, throwing light both on the kernel of the talk and on its shortcomings. This so-called naive question would invariably reveal where the argument had broken down. That was a true lesson in philosophy; it was a lesson which I have striven to learn and emulate.