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Science Section => Science General Discussion => Physics & Cosmology => Topic started by: Baruch on March 24, 2018, 10:50:48 PM

Title: A recent review of how fundamental physics as turned as dismal as economics ...
Post by: Baruch on March 24, 2018, 10:50:48 PM
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/why-string-theory-is-still-not-even-wrong/

Dr Woit I have followed for years now.  I appreciate educated skeptics.  He has some not so nice things to say about Dr Ellis and others, who have over-invested in the string theory hype ... for selfish reasons.  I see it as modern physics has matured into the new Aristotelian Scholasticism.  Epicycles upon epicycles to justify a hard to escape idea fixe' like "circles are the perfect shape" ... is how the vacuum is now being modeled by string theorists (as I recently mentioned).
Title: Re: A recent review of how fundamental physics as turned as dismal as economics ...
Post by: Hakurei Reimu on March 25, 2018, 06:59:59 PM
My understanding is that the Standard Model (which is well-confirmed) is still king â€" if you want to predict some phenomenon to any reasonable degree of veracity, the Standard Model is your go-to. String Theory is the current hopeful favorite for the next level of understanding (particularly as you can't make a string theory without having gravitation drop out of it without prompting), but it is still just a hopeful, and this will always be the case until someone manages to get it to kick out actual, observable predictions.

Oh well, if nothing else, some interesting mathematics will come out of it.
Title: Re: A recent review of how fundamental physics as turned as dismal as economics ...
Post by: Cavebear on March 25, 2018, 09:06:33 PM
Quote from: Hakurei Reimu on March 25, 2018, 06:59:59 PM
My understanding is that the Standard Model (which is well-confirmed) is still king â€" if you want to predict some phenomenon to any reasonable degree of veracity, the Standard Model is your go-to. String Theory is the current hopeful favorite for the next level of understanding (particularly as you can't make a string theory without having gravitation drop out of it without prompting), but it is still just a hopeful, and this will always be the case until someone manages to get it to kick out actual, observable predictions.

Oh well, if nothing else, some interesting mathematics will come out of it.

You really need to just start ignoring Baruch.  He doesn't deal in facts, he deals in influencing people by any means possible.  It took me a year to understand that and I would like to save you the trouble.  And he may not even understand that about himself.
Title: Re: A recent review of how fundamental physics as turned as dismal as economics ...
Post by: Baruch on March 25, 2018, 11:15:23 PM
Quote from: Cavebear on March 25, 2018, 09:06:33 PM
You really need to just start ignoring Baruch.  He doesn't deal in facts, he deals in influencing people by any means possible.  It took me a year to understand that and I would like to save you the trouble.  And he may not even understand that about himself.

You aren't my shrink either ;-)  Are you so lonely ... that you need people here to agree with you?  I enjoy that they "don't" agree with me.