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Sunday, April 01, 2007

Spectator of the show

Next round: String theory is losing the public debate. Have fun, but don't forget that Good physics is conflict, and The End of Physics has been postponed until the return of the Boltzmann brains.


[Pic: Inflatable Boxing Ring by Happyjump]

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8 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:05 PM, April 01, 2007

    I like very much Sean's comment :'Come on, string theorists! Make some effort to explain to everyone why this set of lofty speculations is as promising as you know it to be. It won’t hurt too much, really.'

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  2. Sabine Hossenfelder3:17 PM, April 01, 2007

    :-) Well, maybe they are afraid to find out that Brian Greene has used up all their words. I like this sentence much better:

    Peter Woit agrees that "things are not looking good for a physical theory when there start being public debates on the subject”; indeed I'm just about ready to give up on evolution for just that reason.

    Without doubt, this wasn't exactly Peter Woit's most intelligent statement, but Sean has made his point. I just hope they won't pick around this sentence forever. I sometimes wonder if these guys don't have better things to do with their Sunday afternoons... oops, I'm late. Cafe-meeting: gotta plan my institute ;-) Best,

    B.

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  3. Anonymous5:59 PM, April 01, 2007

    In Germany a boxer named Henry Maske had on saturday a comeback after almost 10 years or so. He had a fight against the only other boxer who ever hit him- and he won! Perhaps a good signal?!

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  4. Arun11:10 PM, April 01, 2007

    As long as we don't confuse between the speculative versus demonstrated or the promising versus achieved aspects of the ideas of string theory, LQG, etc., I do not see a problem.

    But then, physicists today are not like Bohr, who reputedly examined the pro and con positions on his ideas on alternate days.

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  5. PlatoHagel5:35 PM, April 02, 2007

    not so much a spectator anymore? :)

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  6. Sabine Hossenfelder5:37 PM, April 02, 2007

    :-) My spectator-ness is time-dependent, with a peak on weekends.

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  7. Anonymous3:30 AM, April 03, 2007

    Arun,

    That doesn't sound like the Neils Bohr I've read about. If a case can be made he wasn't totally dogmatic about the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, I'd like to hear it!

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  8. PlatoHagel9:48 AM, April 03, 2007

    I couldn't help but think about the cell construction and the "network perspective" you and Stefan shared. :)

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