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Except that string theory isn't exactly mainstream - there's a small group of people who do string theory, and a large number of physicists whose work has been
by twic 6y ago
Except that string theory isn't exactly mainstream - there's a small group of people who do string theory, and a large number of physicists whose work has been completely unaffected by string theory.
That's what makes this so strange. Everyone outside string theory seems to think string theory is pseudoscience. Why is it still being funded?
- HenryKissinger 6y agoString theory may or may not hold the keys to the Universe, but it's so complicated that very few people understand it. Should we stop giving taxpayer money to a group of people who can't convincingly make their case to the outside world, even if they are right? Or do we trust their word without being able to check for ourselves? I happen to favor the first approach.
- jeremyjh 6y agoI don't begrudge them the first twenty years. But for the last twenty years they don't seem worried about the lack of meaningful progress because their maths are so pretty. I sort of get that but its alarming that Physics Today still hasn't printed any of this really basic criticism. This makes me suspicious of other things including high-energy physics.