>>16719288 (OP)I don't get why everyone is so horny for hating string theory. Its a niche field in a niche field. Who cares?
>Muh results. Muh predictionsI, legitimately, don't care. It's effectively a research programme in mathematics. You have retards like Sabine claiming that it's hovering up funding for other programs, but the reality is string theory research is so tiny, it's not having a material impact on research for other things.
>SmolinLee Smolin claims that string theory and his personal theory of loop quantum gravity are the same thing, just seen differently. He claims that lots of public funds have been given to ST without any actual predictions. The exact same criticism can be levelled at LQG: it's made no testable predictions either (and the ones it did make have been falsified... Which to lead to a very embarrassing climb down by Smolin and Rovelli). Moreover, Smolin says all of this while being employed at a very respectable research institute where he's given unlimited time to peruse his theory.
>WoitPeter Woit has similar criticisms, except instead of him favouring LQG, he instead wants more funding for twistor theory (the research he's spent his life doing). However unlike LQG twistor theory has NEVER produced a prediction either. So instead he relies on supersymmetry to levy his critique, this is a totally valid criticism and I get mostly agree.
>SabineSabine is a literally who in science. Her main contribution to the discourse on fundamental research was threatening to sue Lubos Motl. Sabine's main problem was her incredibly fringe ideas couldn't get funding. It has nothing to do with ST. It has nothing to do with string theory hovering up all the funding, and everything to do with her "guys, maybe gravity isn't quantum at all" ideas. Of course such an out there idea is going to be difficult to secure funding to explore.