Yes. The primary issue with string theory I have is that it seemed for a long time to suck in large numbers of very talented theoretical physicists because it w

Yes. The primary issue with string theory I have is that it seemed for a long time to suck in large numbers of very talented theoretical physicists because it was a fashionable field - I saw many contemporaries of mine who went into theoretical physics go down this route. It's not just experimental physicists and the big budget costs that comes with particle accelerators. Theoretical physicists of course cost a lot less than the LHC but they are quite a scarce resource nonetheless - especially very talented ones - and I wonder what could have been achieved had many of them been working in different areas of physics or even in different fields altogether.