He tried his best with an intriguing idea (a discrete, information theoretic basis for the physical universe). By all accounts the program did not deliver. At t

He tried his best with an intriguing idea (a discrete, information theoretic basis for the physical universe). By all accounts the program did not deliver. At two levels: first at the obvious target, reinterpeting the existing body of knowledge and possibly predicting and explaining new things. But also important, the program did not produce mental tools (e.g., mathematical structures or other concepts) that maybe somebody else might adopt and try a new, more productive, approach. This doesnt mean the original idea will forever fail to be relevant. (Though other "deep insights" of Wheeler, like geometrodynamics, also did not pan out.) The life of ideas evolving in our collective mental spaces is poorly correlated with the biological lifespans of the 'carriers' and even more so with their human needs and feelings.