I find it strange that the author thinks physicists speculate too much, then says they should turn to philosophy.
The crisis in physics is not only about physics
51–60 of 179 posts
Re: The crisis in physics is not only about physics
#52> They do not think about which hypotheses are promising because their education has not taught them to do so. Such self-reflection would require knowledge of the philosophy and sociology of science, and those are subjects physicists merely make dismissive jokes about. Accusing working scientists of being insufficiently reflective on any topic, let alone themselves or the field they work in, seems without merit on it…
I have a PhD in physics. Even though I have left the field, I’ve hung around with enough of them, and occasionally tried to raise some more philosophical questions with them. Sabine is unfortunately spot on.
> tried to raise some more philosophical questions with them.
Like what? Genuinely interested, not seeking to argue.
Re: The crisis in physics is not only about physics
#53> They do not think about which hypotheses are promising because their education has not taught them to do so. Such self-reflection would require knowledge of the philosophy and sociology of science, and those are subjects physicists merely make dismissive jokes about. Accusing working scientists of being insufficiently reflective on any topic, let alone themselves or the field they work in, seems without merit on it…
Tunnel vision is a thing. Taking some time to zoom out is often incredibly useful.
Also, the philosophy and sociology of science are a VERY different thing from "the humanities".
Re: The crisis in physics is not only about physics
#54"In the foundations of physics, we have not seen progress since the mid 1970s when the standard model of particle physics was completed." This seems to discount the explosion of work in the foundations of theoretical physics. Most notably the many variations of String Theory. Just because the work has not yet produced experiments that can validate them do not mean they are not progress. It's some of the most exciting…
Yes, she does discount string theory: http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2016/06/dear-dr-b-why-not-s...
Re: The crisis in physics is not only about physics
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fantastic mondegreen ("knit pick", like picking at stitching with knitting needles, as opposed to "nit pick", which is picking off lice eggs to prevent future annoyance)
"Mondegreen" is a word I've needed but didn't know existed. Thanks for sharing. All intensive purposes. Get down to brass tax. There's a lot of these that I've uttered or heard and they last a long time because they sound kind of sensible.
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Re: The crisis in physics is not only about physics
#56As usual with Sabine, this article blatantly misrepresents how science is done and how actual scientists think, and serves mainly to portray herself as the only person in the field capable of rational thought. People in the comments here are picking up on this when it takes an unfair swipe at medicine, but it really applies to the whole article. I am not going to bother doing a line-by-line rebuttal, because I've alr…
Yesterday you proclaimed that the status quo of physics is free from "bad science", and today you're engaging in a character assassination against a well-renowned female physicist who is questioning the status quo.
Re: The crisis in physics is not only about physics
#57> They do not think about which hypotheses are promising because their education has not taught them to do so. Such self-reflection would require knowledge of the philosophy and sociology of science, and those are subjects physicists merely make dismissive jokes about. Accusing working scientists of being insufficiently reflective on any topic, let alone themselves or the field they work in, seems without merit on it…
Tunnel vision is a thing. Taking some time to zoom out is often incredibly useful. Also, the philosophy and sociology of science are a VERY different thing from "the humanities".
> the philosophy and sociology of science are a VERY different thing from "the humanities".
I'm not sure that they are.
But my point is simply that accusing scientists of not being self-reflective is silly, accusing them of ignorance of history is silly, and for this piece to be elevated beyond the level of polemic would require something, anything, in the way of persuasion that its assertions were true.
Re: The crisis in physics is not only about physics
#58I wonder if what the author is observing is an effect of the industrialization of science. As she pointed out, > Because the existing scientific system does not encourage learning. Physicists today can happily make career by writing papers about things no one has ever observed, and never will observe. Maybe what's really going on is that almost every scientist out there is forced to chase grants and maintain a steady…
The inability to make long-term investments is a major reason I don't intend to stay in academia after my PhD. Government and corporate labs don't seem better in my view either. At present my plan is the following: Keep the amount of time spent making money to the minimum needed to support myself. Then I can invest my own time and money into research. I could make money from research via grants/contracts like normal…
I went that way. Five years down the line, when I read theoretical physics, I'm glad of what chose.
Re: The crisis in physics is not only about physics
#59It feels from the outside, academic research is performed by an individual or small group that culminates into a paper at the end. When attacking large problems in physics or biology this seems short sighted. A potentially better way would be to attack the problem in an organized manner with teams researching various aspects of the problem and building off of each other. Remove the whole 'paper writing/journal articl…
Yes, they do exist. See the CERN supercollider, LIGO, the DEMO fusion reactor, and many other projects.
But is the research using these tools coordinated? Or are these tool created and then independent researchers schedule time to use them?
Re: The crisis in physics is not only about physics
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Almost any material hard metrics you look at like life expectancy, economic growth or whatever you could consider a sign of technological advancement, even tens of billions in investment seem to produce only marginal improvements. We are not living in the golden age of science. As a knit pick, these metrics are all derivatives of science output, and not science itself. For example, detecting gravity waves does move…
> For example, detecting gravity waves does move the needle on any of these metrics It will surely do. Those achievements are not possible without staggering advances in technology that can be later applied in different fields. The same technology that we first developed for those expensive colliders is now used in MRI and others diagnosis tools that we have for granted today.
Don't forget the web:
https://home.cern/science/computing/birth-web