Physics is still in crisis

There has been no progress in the foundations of physics for 40 years. In my book "Lost in Math" I have explained why that is and what can be done about this. In this video, I briefly summarize the content of the book.

[Exurba]

Hey Sabine - listened to the audiobook version of Lost in Math a few months ago. Amazing work. Was such a succinct and brilliant picture of the state of physics today, and the problems it faces. The central thesis could've been cynical and pessimistic, but I finished it full of hope for the future of physics. Would recommend it to everyone.

[Alfalfocampestre]

sabine, i always watch your videos, im a physics teacher from chile and i learn so much from your videos, thanks you so much for sharing your knowledge! i admire your attitude towards science, i even use you in my classes as an example of an excelent science comunicator/thinker. I also talk about you with my physics/maths collegues, teachers and researchers, and we all perceive what are you trying to put on the table. thanks for being an awesome person in the field!

[FranBunnyFFXII]

"You do not just tinker around with a 27kilometer particle collider"
~Sabine
What a great quote.

[sullyshadari]

Just bought your book in hardcover. Can't wait to read it!

[discogodfather]

Great book Sabine, I have it sitting on my desk. It feels as if for the first time, a Physicist actually was honest about the fundamental state of all the different major theories and how we seem to have ground to a halt.

[craftminerCZ]

No clue why I got this recommended to me but it's a really interesting topic, nicely promoted the book with a message instead of empty advertisements

[ollywright]

I read it about a month ago. I can't stop thinking about the question you ask in it, of the aesthetics of maths and how theories are judged (highly questionably) from that perspective. Thank you for writing it. I find it true of many more parts of the world than just physics.

[TechnoEstate]

*_“But it's so beautiful!”_*
—quantum physicists today
—Ptolemy, ~150 AD

[stever]

As Max Planck said long ago: "Science advances one funeral at time." The id and ego are the bane of society at times.

[shadanahmad]

1:57 "People have come to believe that foundational work is just philosophical speculation."

That right there is the crux of the problem.

[b-m]

"Figures dont lie, but liars figure." Mark twain

[mattiasmartens]

I know this is just a summary, but I was confused by your reference to the concept of “beauty”. To me, the concept of supersymmetry was motivated by a drive for parsimony, a drive to reduce the number of fundamental concepts needed to understand the universe. The discovery of a particular symmetry naturally cuts the complexity of a system in half. It was an attempt to fill in a pattern based on what was already known.

Maybe “parsimony” is the same thing as “beauty” in the context of scientific theories—a simple aesthetic preference. But if that is true, it seems like a moot point. Parsimony is exactly what motivated some of the greatest discoveries of all time in the field of physics. Newton unified projectile motion with the motion of celestial bodies in one simple equation; Maxwell unified the electrical and magnetic forces; Einstein unified time and space. In each case the intent—or at least the outcome—was to reduce the number of arbitrary claims that must be made in modelling the physical world (parsimony), and increase the number of phenomena which needed no special explanation because they were inevitable consequences of things already proven.

Supersymmetry, as posited and disproved by current supercollider experiments, was not an unscientific hypothesis. I would go further than that and say there is only one thing that makes a hypothesis “unscientific” which is a failure to submit it to testing. They obviously did not fail to test their hypothesis.

My own judgment is that they were also not unscientific in their methods or their aims. They were, like so many unnamed scientists throughout history, simply unlucky.

I believe they were unlucky for the reason you indicated: that we have reached a plateau in physics research where the next breakthrough will require far, far more than a simple extension of the current consensus. The “easy” discoveries have already been made. Further unification of theories will require a great intellectual leap, and it remains to be seen in which direction this leap must go.

Still, based on my understanding, I do not agree that the supersymmetry hypothesis was unscientific.

[smeer]

You are so right!!! I may not be a graduate student, but even I can clearly see the situation as you do. I can't wait to read your book!
I have spent years studying graduate level physics and have enjoyed my continued learning and trying my hand at conceptually tackling the biggest puzzles/questions facing science today.
The directions being taken over the past few decades have puzzled and frustrated me for a while. For a long time, I have figured that it must be because of my ignorance to understanding everything at the deepest levels. After this post I feel somewhat vindicated. A large portion of working scientists have consumed their careers only chasing a limited number of paths to new physics.
And, yes, yes, yes, I know that the Standard Model is extremely constrained. Almost any new idea is shot down immediately, not having to wait on new experiments, but by once already done! Yes it is hard! Yet, there must be correct answers and useful directions for scientists to go.
Science must show more diversity in their field, pushing themselves with open minds and revolutionary vision. Imagine if half of the scientists that dedicated their careers on String Theory, instead used their time only looking/working in new directions.

[christianchance]

I've probably watched about 5, 000 youtube videos in the past 2 days, this one is quite unique..

[tofu-munchingCoalition.ofChaos]

1:52 I was astonished that nearly nobody works on the measurement problem.
And indeed the problem seems to be that many believe or believed this to be a merely philosophical question.

[MrAbeAllen]

I am an engineer. I love practical applications of physics. I agree with your analysis that Physics is the cutting edge of technology, and if it isn't advancing, then us engineers won't get cool new toys.. haha.. keep pushing the boundaries physicists, and do as Sabine says, put some work into resolving the inconsistencies in the data, you might find a breakthrough!

[KRGruner]

Finally! Someone who tell it like it is! Definitely ordering the book. Thank you.

[samueljett]

"Thousands of scientists collectively believed something that was obviously unscientific"
This is a major issue in the scientific community today.

[RaysDad]

One of my chemistry professors taught that chemists use math to describe observed phenomena, whereas physicists search for phenomena that verify their (beautiful) math. He was hoping to persuade us to choose chemistry over physics. Oddly, his research was largely on signal analysis, really more of a physics topic, but he addressed it as a chemist would.

[edsmith]

Hi Sabine, I love your dedication to truth. Like you, I am also someone who fights frauds and an aware of how difficult it is. Keep up your good work. - Ed Smith