Can you help me with Copilots responses?

[Gibsense]

No. I very specifically mean philosophy. And we need to start with scientists stopping this tendency to dismiss the whole of philosophy as worthless handwaving. It is exactly that attitude that has led us into this mess.

Geoff, I agree that philosophy is needed to explain the science when understanding is tough. Originating its own science is more of a stretch unless you spot something that has been overlooked. And I agree that the community of Astrophysists can tend to be atrophied within their use of mathematics to discuss logic, but they do step out occasionally with wild ideas, even if ours are routinely ignored.

Consciousness would seem to be a valid subject for philosophy to explore, as science has little to offer, but the idea that 'everything' that will be is directly influenced by this planet's biology is too far out for me.

There is no more extraordinary claim than that, apart from maybe "There was absolutely nothing, then the Big Bang happened, for no reason".

Science attempts to answer with string theory and branes, but it is close to speculation. When I was much younger, it was in vogue to insist that nothing existed pre BB, and as time only began then it wasn't possible to ask the question. But this was the result of a misunderstanding of time and an excuse to stop thinking about the problem. Philosophy was needed then to kick-start inspiration (but there was no effort applied to my knowledge). String theory opened a few doors, but it is still stuck in a dark tunnel.

The idea that extra dimensions might be curled up is a measure of the need for some new inspiration, as it seems quite desperate. Thinking has been confined to some of the old ideas that nothing exists outside of our immediate universe, and although the theory exploits dimensionality, it is only a semi-acceptance that happens to be mathematically true, but not real. Philosophy has a role to play to kick some a---- as they cannot stay within their comfort zones forever

Even Hawking kept banging on about imaginary time - something that worked mathematically but was unreal. Not to mention imaginary numbers. They work. Where is the philosophical answer? Anyone?
Yes, science can get restricted by its own self-made boundaries, but the philosophers have gone to sleep in dreamland. Wake them up!!