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> I find the failed theories of the 1800s inspiring, and the recent ones merely depressing, since for decades I’ve had to watch seemingly intelligent scientists
by libraryofbabel 1y ago
> I find the failed theories of the 1800s inspiring, and the recent ones merely depressing, since for decades I’ve had to watch seemingly intelligent scientists cling to these recent theories despite their lack of success.
what’s he referring to here? String theory?
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- lambda 1y agoThe anthropic principle, which he discusses and rolls his eyes at.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- layer8 1y agoPart II vs. Part I here, it seems: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/higher-speculations-9780198726371#content https://global.oup.com/academic/product/higher-speculations-...
- IAmBroom 1y agoI feel like he may be romanticizing the past. Wasn't it one of the Copenhagen Interpretation founders who said, "Good ideas succeed after the old generation opposing them die off" ? (Very rough quote, but I can't find it in a search.)
- FiatLuxDave 1y agoYou are probably thinking of: "A scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it." - Max Planck
- vixen99 1y agoWhile it's obviously true in some cases that science 'progresses funeral by funeral', some exceptions are noted here as in plate tectonics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck%27s_principle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck%27s_principle