Well,
I'll certainly concede to the valid half. There are a wide variety
of kinds of physics, all with good puzzles, some approaching the subject of
complex systems from the needed variety of unassuming views. I'll
have a look further at the links, but I think I do also see a very clear
hole.
To me
it looks like it's quite big and in the middle, though you may see it as some
insignificant little dot off to the side. There's a simple
test. Where you see evidence of things beginning and ending, do you
see the connections as more likely to be local developmental process or global
statistical fates?
Phil Henshaw ¸¸¸¸.·´ ¯ `·.¸¸¸¸
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-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert Holmes
Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2006 10:29 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Unstrung
On 10/3/06, phil henshaw <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:So I picked up last week's New Yorker to find one of it's thorough and insightful articles of the same name, in this case by Jim Holt on the demise of string theory, and the books by Smolin and Woit. What caught my attention was the apparent fact that what caused string theory to suddenly take over all of theoretical physics is that physics has run out of data! Apparently everything they've thought of trying to explain has been
Errrr...how to put this politely? Rubbish! The following lists are by by no means definitive but there's enough content to establish the falsity of "everything they've thought of trying to explain has been":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics#Future_directions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsolved_problems_in_physics
I think you may be reading more into Holt's comment about "the absence of data in physics" than is intended (BTW, article is still available at http://www.newyorker.com/critics/atlarge/ ). It seems to be a somewhat tongue-in-cheek comment that occupies less than half a sentence and Holt does not expand on it. IMHO, Holt gives much more weight to the "sociology" explanation.
R
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