“The Trouble With Physics” by Lee Smolin: string theory as a religion

“The first thing that outsiders notice about the string theory community is its tremendous self-confidence.”

“Some string theorists prefer to believe that string theory is too arcane to be understood by human beings, rather than consider the possibility that it might just be wrong. One recent posting on a physics blog laid this out beautifully: ‘We can’t expect a dog to understand quantum mechanics, and it may be that we are reaching the limit of what humans can understand about string theory. Maybe there are advanced civilisations out there to whom we appear as smart as dogs do to us, and maybe they have figured out string theory well enough to have moved on to a better theory…’ Indeed, string theorists seem to have no problem believing that string theory must be right while acknowledging that they have no idea what it really is. In other words, string theory will subsume whatever comes after it. The first time I heard this view expressed, I thought it was a joke, but the fourth iteration convinced me that the speaker was serious. …

A related characteristic is a sense of entitlement and a lack of regard for those who work on alternative approaches to the problems string theory claims to solve. Indeed, string theorists are normally uninterested in, and often ignorant of, anything that is not labeled string theory.”

“Another facet of string theory that many find disturbing is what can only be described as the messianic tendency of some of its practitioners, especially some younger ones. For them, string theory has become a religion. Those of us who publish papers questioning results or claims of string theorists regularly receive emails whose mildest form of abuse is ‘Are you kidding?’ or ‘Is this a joke?’ Discussions of string theory’s ‘opponents’ abound on Web sites and chat boards, where, even given the unbridled nature of such venues, the intelligence and professional competence of non-string theorists is questioned in remarkably unpleasant terms. It’s hard not to conclude that at least some string theorists have begun to see themselves as crusaders rather than scientists.”