[ExI] Discontent with the path physics is taking

[Dan]

Thanks for responding to this. To play Devil's Advocate, what about, say, QCD. That theory had little practical application, yet it seems like a fairly successful and fruitful area of research. And were we to go back further, one might wonder about the work of Kepler. Little immediate application, though the long term pay out, especially once it was integrated with other work, seems quite large. Might not the same be possible for string theory?
 
Regards,
 
Dan
From: spike <spike66 at att.net>
To: 'Dan' <dan_ust at yahoo.com>; 'ExI chat list' <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 12:09 PM
Subject: RE: [ExI] Discontent with the path physics is taking


Dan, this has long been a concern of those outside string theory, but I look at it this way.  String theory has few if any commercial applications.  There is *plenty* of physics going on in microdevices and other areas where there are enormous economic incentives.  String theory is not competing with that, and that is where the money is.  I don’t worry if a few physics professors struggle over their 14 dimensional mathematics and eat up some small and dwindling theoretical research budget supplied by governments.  I cheer for them, hope they find interesting stuff.  I am interested in theoretical physics myself.  I worry they may have taken a long and fruitless path.  But I don’t lose any sleep over it.
 
spike
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