This is why physics is dying

In which I get very depressed that nothing has changed in 20 years.

00:00 rant
02:53 incomprehensible quantum stuff
05:43 more rant
08:29 check out my wonderful quiz app

[markhughes]

I like Feynman's comment: "String Theory doesn't make predictions. It makes excuses.'

[gptiede]

I am an astrophysicist. When I was in graduate school in the early '90s it became apparent to me that the theorists were doing exactly what this video says. They were using mathematics to "explain" some idea they had with absolutely no interest or ability for this idea to be tested in the real universe. In many cases their ideas inconsistent with observations (after all astronomy is primarily an observational science) and they didn't care. They often didn't bother to claim the observations were erroneous. They just didn't care.

Then in the late '90s I was a postdoc and discovered that all of the funding in US astrophysics was controlled by 5 personalities. These people declared what would get funding and be researched and what would not. I say personalities because that's what was going on; it was a cult of personalities. Everyone kowtowed to these 5 individuals. Postdocs would write papers extolling the ideas of these people, even the untestable ideas. They and their postdocs and students were awarded all of the telescope time the asked for and got the lions share of funding. It was disgusting and exactly the opposite of what science needs to be to be successful.

Years ago I gave it up, and now I am a teacher and science popularizer, but as far as I can tell from the outside, nothing has changed.

Thanks Sabine for giving this situation a public forum.

[TrapperKeeper]

I get so sick of the overused comparisons in physics videos. So I laughed out loud when you said, "Just for comparison, that's much smaller than a giraffe"

[geej]

My PhD is in experimental physics not theoretical, so perhaps I'm biased, but for me, any theory which, by its very nature, cannot be physically tested, is philosophy not physics, and should be funded as such.

[rangjungyeshe]

Great stuff Sabine. Very, very few combine both the knowledge to call out BS at this level, and also the nerve to do it - because it would be professional and personal suicide to do so. You've broken free of the system, and we all respect and love you for doing so. 🙂

[alijhi]

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it."

[MikZran]

After my PhD in Theoretical Physics, I ended up in aerospace engineering because I needed the money. I've always regretted my failure to stay in academia, but watching you makes me think that maybe it was for the best.

[jonasberlin]

I was a theoretical physicist 30 years ago, and gave up on it. Thank you for, again, pointing out how messed up the system is. I realize there has been a drought in exciting discoveries for along time, but that doesn't excuse making things up.

[mangoldm]

Whenever I see a questionable science headline I no longer click. I just say to myself "If there's anything to this Sabine will cover it."

[coloryvr]

The problem does not only exist in science: Anyone who has invested years of work in a false theory or a stupid worldview will have problems admitting their mistakes. And if a person's entire identity/personality is based on errors, that person can become very aggressive if the foundation is shaken. Take it easy!

[DarnWhippets]

"That I'm fucking sick of hearing". This is why we love Sabine. No fence sitting and getting people telt.

[tomhardyofmaths]

I had a math professor once, a very talented Geometer, when I was undergrad. He did work in multiple fields, including string theory. He was always very quick to emphasize that string theory is math, not physics. He said, 'Could be physics someday, but not anytime soon. It is very much only theoretical math.'

[Clint]

Prof here. I work in a fairly applied area of plasma physics and even we've seen a significant slowdown in progress. This discussion is something that affects both the applied and fundamental areas.

From our end its the need for "risk management" and "predefined impact" in grant funding. In short, we basically need to already know the outcomes of our grants in order to have any chance of getting any funding... So we apply for incremental projects that don't really provide real insight. If you buck this trend you get no money, lose respect, and fall out of the system within a few funding cycles.

The same goes for working with industry, there needs to be defined (and contractually obligated) outputs. If you don't deliver, its professional suicide. So you have to always play it safe, it leaves no room for real progress.

We've been infected with the "consultant rot", the economic prediction models, the fields of legal jargon and waste. We need to be able to propose real projects with real applications and real progress - but I don't see a path to that world from where we are now.

[Hamcatterton]

Don’t apologize for videos like this. This discourse is needed in the scientific community

[MrAH]

Sabine, as a scientist myself, though in a different field, I just want to say that I understand your frustrations completely. Thank you for being one of very few voices in the wilderness willing to say that the majority who’ve staked their entire careers and livelihoods on an empty promise are, in fact, wrong. I admire you for all you do and hope that you can continue to educate those of us willing to listen. Don’t let them get you down.

[Beautiful-ModelBarbara-Hut-sj]

A GLORIOUS and insightful rant! 👍👏👏👏
My introduction to astronomy professor in '91 said, "String Theory looks good on paper. But that's about it." And indeed, nothing has changed.

[larsw]

The chapter titles "rant", "incomprehensible quantum stuff" and "more rant" are brilliant. 🙂

[markdowning]

Thanks Sabine! I hope your toothache improves. Also the physics community!

[bobdobs]

Sabine I left theoretical physics around 1979 because of this very virus that’s been damaging physics for over 40 years, keep working to keep physics alive it feels like it on respirators.

[el_argent]

in 1988 I decided to study molecular biology instead of physics, because physics was already stuck