News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Our universe within a larger universe? So suggests wormho... by Osmium on Saturday February 16, 2013 @07:40PM (#5233733)
Because of course a blog titled "Solutions to 5 Major Problems in Physics" wouldn't be talking out of its own ass. Among other things claimed to be solved on there are problems related to dark energy and quantum gravity.

Perhaps the sarcastic tone is too much, but "peer review" (flawed though it may be) exists for a reason. If there's a paper, you should link that instead, and if there isn't a paper then maybe that tells you something. There's too much crap on the Internet and it makes it far too easy for a layman to be led astray by almost-but-not-quite logic. I don't know if your link is an example of that or not, but I've seen far too many blogs that claim to have solved some big mystery that's alluded great minds for the last several decades, but yet somehow their work remains unpublished.

Re:Our universe within a larger universe? So suggests wormho... by tuppol on Sunday February 17, 2013 @03:26AM (#5234596)
So you didn't even read the content of his link, but somehow you felt entitled to dismiss it on the basis that... on what basis, exactly? That no information that wasn't pre-approved by a certified, "well-respected" expert is worth considering? Science doesn't work like that. Academia does.
Re:Our universe within a larger universe? So suggests wormho... by Osmium on Sunday February 17, 2013 @01:34PM (#5236141)
It's an admirable attitude to have but sadly only in theory. In practice there's sadly far too much crackpottery on the Internet. That's absolutely fine if the only people reading it are experts who can judge it for themselves, but often that isn't the case. If you are an expert then I agree; don't dismiss something out of hand because it isn't peer reviewed! but if you're one of those people, you don't need to be told that.

To illustrate my point, consider the hoards of climate change deniers, or young earthers out there. To someone who doesn't study the climate or geology, their arguments might sound valid but are actually dangerously misleading. Physics crackpottery is a slightly more intellectual version of that, in that the subject matter isn't accessible to most, but it's no less dangerous. And there's so much of it. So, so much. Some physics bloggers have all but given up the will having battled these people for so long. They're like the conspiracy theorists of the science world. So I feel like it's not unreasonable for a layman to dismiss things out of hand until it's been properly peer reviewed.

We should all be wary of argument to authority, but perhaps less so to argument to experience and mutual respect.

Re:Our universe within a larger universe? So suggests wormho... by pdonis on Sunday February 17, 2013 @12:31PM (#5235898)
Have you read the content of his link? I have; its reasoning is invalid.
Re:Our universe within a larger universe? So suggests wormho... by genwin on Sunday February 17, 2013 @02:24PM (#5236325)
Should we just take your word for that?
Re:Our universe within a larger universe? So suggests wormho... by pdonis on Sunday February 17, 2013 @03:07PM (#5236507)
No, you should read the link, and/or you should ask me what I'm basing my judgment on. [Edit: I see you did just that elsewhere in the thread, I'll respond there.]
Re:Our universe within a larger universe? So suggests wormho... by genwin on Sunday February 17, 2013 @02:19PM (#5236311)
Peer review may exist for a reason but there's no evidence it helps to advance science. There is evidence however that peer review has blocked valid works. It may be throwing the babies out with the bath water.