Greetings Economists, Some more on the Surfer Dude physicist, Garrett Lisi. Author of the "Extremely Simple Theory of Everything (T.o.E.).
B: You're living on an island, and keep your distance to the academical networks. Do you think that solitude and silence are necessary to our understanding of nature's ways? G: To a degree, yes. But mostly I spend time in Maui because it's beautiful and the surf is good. And although I work on my own, my wonderful girlfriend is usually around, painting or knitting. And I have friends to hang out with occasionally. Ideally, I think what one needs in life is balance. I like to spend a few hours a day working on physics in silence, and a few hours playing outside or goofing off. I've been thinking about what the ideal scientific work environment would be, and the best thing I've been able to come up with is a Science Hostel. I envision a large house where theorists could live and work on their stuff alone or in groups while having their meals and living space provided. The idea is to give researchers time, with an easily accessible but undemanding social atmosphere, and as little responsibility as possible. And, of course, it would have to be somewhere beautiful -- with good hiking and other things to do outside. For the past year I've been living near Lake Tahoe -- a great environment for thinking and playing. Anywhere in the mountains would probably be good for a Science Hostel -- even better if it's next to a good ski hill. :) The reason I've been out of the scientific network isn't because I thought it was bad, but because I didn't fit in it. I love differential geometry, GR, and QFT, but I don't care for strings. Ten years ago, when I got my Ph.D., the only postdoc positions available in these overlapping areas were in string theory. So, since I had some money saved up, I moved to Maui to work on the puzzle on my own, and learned how to windsurf. Now, ten years later, string theory isn't doing so well and there are starting to be other opportunities in foundational physics. The LQG community has grown significantly -- and they're a wonderful group of people. Also, the FQXi foundation liked what I was doing enough to give me a nice grant. So I felt the time was right to leave my quiet island and start talking with people. more here: http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2007/08/garrett-lisis-inspiration.html thanks, Doyle Saylor
