tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post2957232835884895976..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: “String theorists have to sit in the back.” Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-42653425529309457632013-08-06T03:46:15.819-04:002013-08-06T03:46:15.819-04:00Hi Hans,
Don't worry, it doesn't bother m...Hi Hans,<br /><br />Don't worry, it doesn't bother me. I just find it interesting, the cultural differences, esp when you contrast North America with Northern Europe. I've been in Sweden long enough to be very sure there's nothing wrong with the North European sense of humor :o) <br /><br />I'm glad to hear that you liked my talk, esp because I was feeling truly terrible that Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-61826358190840455312013-08-04T21:16:47.425-04:002013-08-04T21:16:47.425-04:00"If you’ve ever given a talk somewhere in Nor..."If you’ve ever given a talk somewhere in North Europe, you can probably relate."<br />Are you referring, at least in part, to your talk this spring in Bergen? I was in the audience, and while I'd love to laugh out loud at all your humoristic points or sarcastic remarks (and probably had to restrain myself not to), you're probably right that we're generally a too polite Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02417629799453046161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-26682270967169022572013-08-04T21:14:31.582-04:002013-08-04T21:14:31.582-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02417629799453046161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-37100611144461800882013-07-10T17:01:49.236-04:002013-07-10T17:01:49.236-04:00Thanks for the correction Bee :)
I guess she's...Thanks for the correction Bee :)<br />I guess she's not related to the Australian tennis player then..amusedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02765637089842841638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-2512064449703688052013-07-10T10:32:59.151-04:002013-07-10T10:32:59.151-04:00JoAnne Hewett. JoAnne Hewett. Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-17782079240411164182013-07-10T07:04:41.456-04:002013-07-10T07:04:41.456-04:00Nemo wrote: "....But I still think reasonable...Nemo wrote: "....But I still think reasonable people agree that science should naturally follow the scientific method without negative interference by people who are not knowledgable enough"<br /><br />Are you knowledgable, Nemo?<br /><br />Do tell us your definition of `knowledgable' and how one qualifies for that.<br /><br />Is <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/amusedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02765637089842841638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-16791152487870455152013-07-09T14:31:30.527-04:002013-07-09T14:31:30.527-04:00Hi Arun,
yes I know what book you are talking abo...Hi Arun,<br /><br />yes I know what book you are talking about. In his first book, Mr. Unzicker makes such an outright full mouthed fool of himself LOL :-). <br /><br />He substitutes his lack of basic knowledge about even well established 19th century physics such as quantum mechanics, the standard model of particle physics, general relativity, etc by hate speach and more often than not personalNemohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15937686207028627202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-35713608463731663302013-07-09T13:02:40.879-04:002013-07-09T13:02:40.879-04:00Nemo wrote: ....But I still think reasonable peopl...Nemo wrote: <i>....But I still think reasonable people agree that science should naturally follow the scientific method without negative interference by people who are not knowledgable enough </i><br /><br />Which is fine, but it is people who are not knowledgable enough who pay the taxes that are the ultimate source of funding for most of this science. Trust is required for this arrangement to Arunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03451666670728177970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-68573653168504646842013-07-09T06:08:18.506-04:002013-07-09T06:08:18.506-04:00He Bee,
the new incoming low level scornful comme...He Bee,<br /><br />the new incoming low level scornful comments even attacking you are not unexpected, they are due to the fact that a certain blogger, who is part of the problem you describe in your nice article, has now linked to this post and people like Unknown, Amused, etc are coming from there (maybe you know which blogger I mean ;-) ...).<br /><br />But I still think reasonable people Nemohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15937686207028627202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-24672014052146824172013-07-09T03:19:43.205-04:002013-07-09T03:19:43.205-04:00Hi Bee,
I think one needs to distinguish between ...Hi Bee,<br /><br />I think one needs to distinguish between string theory and string theorists. <br />String theory is a respectable and well-motivated research topic. Even for its original purpose as a low-energy effective theory of the strong nuclear interactions it is still interesting, and even more so as a theoretical model of quantum gravity (even if it only turns out to be a toy model). <amusedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02765637089842841638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-70472192747022211922013-07-08T04:16:12.639-04:002013-07-08T04:16:12.639-04:00And for all I can tell I'm neither sad nor Swe...And for all I can tell I'm neither sad nor Swedish nor a feminist. Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-83768395110730130182013-07-08T04:14:19.904-04:002013-07-08T04:14:19.904-04:00As I wrote, it isn't the joke that bothers me....As I wrote, it isn't the joke that bothers me. I don't find it funny, but then that's a matter of personal taste. What bothers me is that he thought it's a good idea to make this joke, meaning he thought that the majority of the audience would approve and that he doesn't care it's a display of public and empty criticism of a research area. Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-87490549289607254632013-07-08T03:17:36.461-04:002013-07-08T03:17:36.461-04:00It is just a joke. Are you becoming a sad swedish...It is just a joke. Are you becoming a sad swedish feminist, that you no longer understand jokes?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11153616251948721524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-34137188314501068742013-07-05T04:07:59.544-04:002013-07-05T04:07:59.544-04:00Nemo,
Really, do you think so? This hasn't be...Nemo,<br /><br />Really, do you think so? This hasn't been my impression. <br /><br />Nature by and large doesn't write a terrible lot on fundamental physics/quantum gravity. Yes, they've had some quite bizarre philosophical pieces on the Higgs and "the end of science" during the last year. I have no clue why they publish this stuff. I mean, do they really have an audience Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-205418418387472552013-07-04T06:08:43.780-04:002013-07-04T06:08:43.780-04:00Hi @Bee
ok, this was probably a bit too harsh. Ge...Hi @Bee<br /><br />ok, this was probably a bit too harsh. Generally about other parts of science, Scientific American and Nature probably still deliver nice and well researched articles.<br /><br />But concerning fundamental physics, since too long a time now they write nothing but dismissive articles that do nothing but add to the negative public opinion you observe in the dismissive comments toNemohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15937686207028627202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-1759652342902971752013-07-04T05:59:04.029-04:002013-07-04T05:59:04.029-04:00/*If you remove String theory and String theory in.../*If you remove String theory and String theory inspired papers, nothing is left (well almost).*/<br /><br />This is indeed a nonsense, especially in the light of the fact, the string theorists are getting "inspired" with another theories often in an effort to make their theory more specific and predictable. And if we remove nontestable predictions from contemporary theoretical physics,Zephirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06010623752049244967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-34622584648872386462013-07-04T03:15:01.900-04:002013-07-04T03:15:01.900-04:00Confusion,
I don't understand your dismissive...Confusion,<br /><br />I don't understand your dismissive comment. Yes, the world is full with people who make condescending jokes. No, I don't like that. But no, I'll not spend the rest of my life complaining about everybody who ever makes a condescending remark about somebody because that would be futile. But yes, I'll express my disapproval if it happens on my front door, much Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-50825710992723994832013-07-04T03:06:17.227-04:002013-07-04T03:06:17.227-04:00Nemo,
If Nature and SciAm are *bad* examples, the...Nemo,<br /><br />If Nature and SciAm are *bad* examples, then what is the rest?? <br />Best,<br /><br />B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-22978212807183886302013-07-04T02:48:43.235-04:002013-07-04T02:48:43.235-04:00Giotis,
For personal reasons. After my diploma, I...Giotis,<br /><br />For personal reasons. After my diploma, I knew I wanted to do BSM physics, and essentially had a choice between SUSY and black hole stuff (large extra dimensions at that time). As you can tell from my publication list, I decided against susy. And, needless to say, I've been wondering for 13 years whether that was a good decision. Best,<br /><br />B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-76656688906025417422013-07-03T16:25:40.903-04:002013-07-03T16:25:40.903-04:00Christians are joked about because of silly things...Christians are joked about because of silly things bishops say, atheists are joked about because of silly things that Dawkins says, existentialists are joked about because of silly things Sartre said and string theorists are joked about because of silly things leading string theorists say. <br /><br />"the world is full with guys who think they’re oh-so-smart and who need a haircut" andConfusionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08370228073178175995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-14375076013290453912013-07-03T11:53:03.426-04:002013-07-03T11:53:03.426-04:00"Who says how long is too long?"
I just..."Who says how long is too long?"<br /><br />I just did, didn't I?<br /><br />"if it doesn't have breast hair I wouldn't call it sexy either."<br /><br />OK. Black holes are not sexy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-82849585437760863132013-07-03T11:21:05.766-04:002013-07-03T11:21:05.766-04:00"and I myself am quite cheerful that no susy ... "and I myself am quite cheerful that no susy has been found at the LHC"<br /><br />?? <br /><br />Could you care to explain? Why are you cheerful? Giotishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03594944884584261018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-60144694177423647782013-07-03T10:46:44.296-04:002013-07-03T10:46:44.296-04:00Hi Bee,
yeah I am way to curious to not still rea...Hi Bee,<br /><br />yeah I am way to curious to not still read interesting articles in nice physics blogs. I have just learned to ignore certain comments of some notorious, I guess in the physics blogosphere well known and ubiquitous commenters :-D.<br /><br />I am not sure if it is fair, to blame the scientists to a larger part for the current not so good situation we now have concerning popular Nemohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15937686207028627202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-73045637498958208702013-07-03T10:05:14.132-04:002013-07-03T10:05:14.132-04:00Peter-w-morgan,
As I said in reply to somebody el...Peter-w-morgan,<br /><br />As I said in reply to somebody else above, I disapprove of content-free hype as much as of content-free criticism. This doesn't advance science, it just polarizes people and eventually wastes everybody's time. The problem is that both the scientists themselves as well as journalists and public figures (in lack of a better word) underestimate the influence. We&#Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-70309165172800433462013-07-03T09:12:29.840-04:002013-07-03T09:12:29.840-04:00Nemo,
I agree with you except that I don't wa...Nemo,<br /><br />I agree with you except that I don't want them to stop talking, I'd rather see more sensible discussion. Unfortunately, the same has been the case for me, that I enjoyed reports on these topics much more before I started working on it myself, because it's just so terribly frustrating. The problem is partly self-made of course, because there've been people going Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com