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Maybe, or maybe not. My personal opinion is that even thirty years ago it seemed stupid to bet almost all resources on a theory that was too complex for anyone
by Ma8ee 7y ago
Maybe, or maybe not. My personal opinion is that even thirty years ago it seemed stupid to bet almost all resources on a theory that was too complex for anyone to even produce any testable predictions. And I think it is even more stupid now, when the main result of the theory seems to be that it's not possible to use it for any prediction (10^500 possible universes, it's not possible to say which one).
- whatshisface 7y agoUnless you mean "almost all PBS physics documentary budget dollars," I don't think almost all resources were bet on it.
- Ma8ee 7y agoFrom the money available for fundamental questions like quantum gravity and beyond standard model physics, almost all resources were bet on it. It's kind of cute how some people now are trying to rewrite history when it is more and more obvious that it was a dead end.
- whatshisface 7y agoThere has to be a couple of orders of magnitude difference between "funders thought it was the best bet for quantum gravity," and "it was all physicists did for thirty years, full stop."
- Ma8ee 7y agoI, nor anyone else I saw (I haven't read all comments), have claimed that that was what physics did for thirty years. If you read my comments you'll see that I have been quite careful to qualify my statements when it hasn't been blaringly obvious from context.