A solid review of string theory; explaining how the five incarnations fit together in one structure, culminating with arguments for F-theory

isocliff · 2012-02-04T21:02:18.344295+00:00

Thanks for giving me a different perspective.

However, it doesn't really address the central tenet of the book, which is that there has been little progress in the last 25 years on unifying gravity with the other forces of nature, finding a quantum theory of gravity, or in interpreting the many constants associated with fundamental particles.

idoubtit00 · 2012-02-04T20:59:08.858761+00:00

You can have BGH and no Pasteurization just as easily as you can have no BGH and Pasteurization.

But why would you?

BeelzebubsBarrister · 2012-02-04T20:31:56.847928+00:00

I think this is relevant.

BeelzebubsBarrister · 2012-02-04T20:30:15.876878+00:00

it's not like I'll recognize them later on.

I have had people looking at my commenting history to dig for dirt.

I've also been accused of deleting comments to hide evidence of sock-puppetry.

I'd actually prefer it if users could not delete their own comments; I only do it when I realise that I've said something really stupid, and before anyone notices.

No-Shit-Sherlock · 2012-02-04T20:27:35.387256+00:00

I think this would be a bad idea.

Firstly, it would make voting very difficult. Would a newbie even get started? When reading the article, you have to go back to Reddit, find the article, click "comments", and upvote from there.

It would prevent human-sourced spam filtering, and it would prevent rescuing of headlines in the new queue which look unfairly maligned.

isocliff · 2012-02-04T20:16:18.114803+00:00

CItation?

And I probably should have said theoretical physics funding.

Macsalad11 · 2012-02-04T20:10:36.956483+00:00

That does sound worrisome.

Macsalad11 · 2012-02-04T20:09:37.515213+00:00

But even your direct point is wrong; from a utilitarian perspective, harming and not helping are the same.

I disagree.

It assumes a complete knowledge of likely outcomes.

With incomplete knowledge, stepping in to assist can do more harm than good.

Look at the USA's lame attempts to bring "democracy" to the world.

isocliff · 2012-02-04T20:07:59.647469+00:00

The trouble with Trouble is that basically it's point is that since string theory isn't done by now, people should stop working on it.

I don't think we read the same book.

The message I got was that since string theory hasn't produced a significant result in 25 years, perhaps it shouldn't dominate all Physics funding.

To paraphrase Michael Duff in this article, that's like saying that a soccer team should give up if they haven't scored by half time.

Except that he didn't advocate giving up.

It also intersperses this with a rant about sexism and racism in physics and tries to tie it in with string theory, and most of the second half of the book is just a bitter rant with little scientific merit.

Well, if you're talking about scientists, you're not actually talking about science.

Are you saying that if you're not talking science, you should hold your breath?

Because I've seen precious little science in any of these comments.

leo1cw · 2012-02-04T20:02:53.375760+00:00

I work with a bunch of physicists.

We do research for a multi-national corporation.

It's pretty well paid, and we get to do stuff with genuine optical devices.

We are working at the limits of measurement given the constraints of our input data, which means that knowledge of theory and attention to detail is very important.

We mostly have Ph.Ds.

cojoco · 2012-02-04T11:40:39.557724+00:00

Why is my factual comment down-voted to -16?

Are you saying you don't have a problem with poverty?

Macsalad11 · 2012-02-04T10:55:14.325651+00:00

"not helping" someone is different from "harming" someone.

Electroniwhat · 2012-02-04T10:54:40.573479+00:00

I disagree with your suggestion that there isn't a cost evaluation that takes place when a party considers whether to attempt to license a patent instead of develop parallel solution on their own.

But sometimes licensing a patent is not possible.

There is no legal requirement forcing a patent owner to license that patent, unless previously agreed to as part of a standards process.

And the likelihood of another party developing such an alternative would set the price of the license.

If there is no workaround, then there is no need to let a competitor enter the market at all.

Cheers.

See you!

Macsalad11 · 2012-02-04T10:51:46.119911+00:00

Even if you believe that the US government legitimately owns public property like the roads

It was more an analogy than any legal argument.

But I do think you'd have to cross US government land to get into the country.

cojoco · 2012-02-04T10:43:47.753977+00:00

Looks like that's what happened.

He's on 606 now.

cojoco · 2012-02-04T10:42:07.307816+00:00

What kind of rich country is so poor that it cannot feed poor people decent milk?

cojoco · 2012-02-04T03:47:47.867121+00:00

So if I look back in a few hours his karma might not look so healthy?

I'd better get some popcorn and wait.

Thanks.

Macsalad11 · 2012-02-04T03:46:45.348282+00:00

That's an interesting point, but it's clear that the foreign citizen "trespassed" on US property to actually get to your place.

Electroniwhat · 2012-02-04T03:27:57.139692+00:00

I have to assume that the value of such a patent would be determined by the market

Nope.

It's a monopoly.

There is no market.

Either you pay the price demanded, or you don't get the good.

There is no competition.

If a valid innovation isn't worth anything to license, then no one would pay for it.

That's a silly example, because it is an uninteresting case. If people patent stuff that nobody wants, they are simply throwing money away, and that's okay by me.

They play a part in discovering innovative solutions, but choose to license instead of produce.

But fair and non-discriminatory pricing is not a requirement for a patent holder.

If a patent holder chooses to pick favourites, or charge ridiculous prices, or do any of a number of silly things, nobody can prevent them from doing so.

If that patent is a necessary piece for a product, then there may only be one company licensed to produce that product.

If they are incompetent, then that product will be of poor quality, and there is nothing anyone can do.

All of your issues seem to stem from patents that are improperly and incorrectly awarded

No; that was just an example of one more thing wrong with the system

in tandem with the actual operation, management, principles, policies, and undertakings of the patent office.

I have no beef with the patent office. They are doing exactly what they are mandated to do by the relevant legislation within the time constraints available. Each examiner gets I think around 20 hours to examine a patent, from go to whoa. Given those constraints, that's a good effort.

However, my beef is with the law, as I do not think it has been properly designed to encourage rapid growth and innovation in technology markets. I believe that it has been designed to increase the power and wealth of large US corporations, which is understandable, but frustrating for both individuals and countries other than the USA.

It is also understandable, as it is clear that there are many examples of the US congress acting to the advantage of corporate interests instead of individuals.

Gnarwhalrus · 2012-02-03T20:09:52.697586-07:00

Well said, my good man!

Gnarwhalrus · 2012-02-04T03:08:55.218727+00:00

Everyone's a critic.

Gnarwhalrus · 2012-02-03T20:08:10.347965-07:00

Wow, that's like a false-flag attacked designed to make Woody look like a Dick.

Macsalad11 · 2012-02-04T03:01:31.575941+00:00

It's not incompatible with the free market.

Trespassing is a crime in the free market too.

Do non-US citizens have the right to walk on US land without permission?

Macsalad11 · 2012-02-04T02:59:57.094860+00:00

But this really shows a fundamental hypocrisy.

"We'll let you come to our country to work, but don't expect us to look after your welfare."

It really highlights the obviousness of the difference in treatment of US citizens and everyone else in the world.

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