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Re:Will string theory finally be put to the experimental test? by jfengel on Wednesday March 25, 2020 @02:00PM (#22686932)
I don't understand why string theory gets singled out for this. It is a theory of ultra high energy physics. No theory of ultra high energy physics is testable with current technology, or any foreseeable technology. At best we make inferences from natural experiments, and that is equally true of any alternative to string theory.
Re:Will string theory finally be put to the experimental test? by jcranmer on Wednesday March 25, 2020 @02:25PM (#22687116)
String theory is the theory that gets popular exposure, and (by and large) string theory has heavily dominated the high energy physics community. While the criticism may be more general than just string theory, it's the one that's going to be targeted the most.
Re:Will string theory finally be put to the experimental test? by jfengel on Wednesday March 25, 2020 @03:34PM (#22687731)
People seem to take the lesson that string theory is specifically flawed, and we should study some other theory instead. It's really an argument that we shouldn't study any ultra high energy domain at all. I disagree but it would be a more productive discussion than the flawed idea that string theory is uniquely untestable.
Re:Will string theory finally be put to the experimental test? by lonelappde on Thursday March 26, 2020 @11:06AM (#22694234)
We criticize bad things people do before bad things people aren't doing.