string theory lied to us and now science communication is hard
Why Hacker News recommends it
Recommended as an engaging critique of string theory hype and its effect on public trust in physics, and often cited alongside Peter Woit's writing.
What it is
Physicist Angela Collier's roughly hour-long video on how string theory was hyped to the public and what that did to science communication. She traces the history of the theory as a narrative and argues it is interesting but was oversold.
Recommended by 8 HN commenters across 5 different months, 2023 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec echelon · 2024-02 · on “In a 'Dark Dimension,' Physicists Search for the Universe's Missing Matter”
This [1] is a fantastic refutation of string theory in that the string theorists have taken more than their fair share of research dollars and public consciousness and that it's time for other branches of physics to get the funding. With limited resources, if you don't context switch, you starve everything else. [1] [this video]
Strong rec sockmeistr · 2024-03 · on “20 Years of "Not Even Wrong"”
I just wanted to second this recommendation - while the video is nearly an hour long, it feels much shorter and is well worth watching: [this video]
Recommends seanhunter · 2024-03 · on “20 Years of "Not Even Wrong"”
Agree but very much with your caveat. If you study the mathematics of some sort of abstract structure you are doing research in pure maths. That is a worthy and completely legitimate pursuit and a ton of stuff started life as pure abstract mathematical research and ended up having real-world benefits way down the line that noone could have forseen.[1] If on the other hand you say that abstract structure is a fundamental building block of the universe and, say, unifies the standard model with gravity etc but actually your theory isn't explaining anything observable I would say that isn't theoretical physics[2] but is just "making shit up". So far string theory has failed to produce any sort o
Recommends thaumaturgy · 2024-03 · on “20 Years of "Not Even Wrong"”
For those that have the time and interest, Angela Collier is a somewhat newer science communicator, and covers everything described in this reply (and more) at [this video] . I don't have the knowledge needed to criticize or defend Dr. Collier's arguments, but Woit linked to her video at [LINK] , so he at least seems to appreciate it.
Recommends nick238 · 2024-03 · on “The humiliating truth behind Harvard astronomer's alien spherules”
Collier has a video on the history of string theory as a narrative and how it kinda tainted the public perception of high energy/particle physics: "String theory lied to us and now science communication is hard" [this video]
Recommends johnkpaul · 2024-08 · on “The Elegant Universe: 25th Anniversary Edition”
I’ve found this explainer by Angela Collier super helpful in understanding the current state of string theory. [this video] I was a gigantic pop science fan and read The Elegant Universe when I was approximately 13 and am excited it’s still being read even if it’s not necessarily true about our universe. It’s got the inspiration and excitement part that’s all I really needed as a kid.
Recommends Shawnecy · 2024-10 · on “Fundamental physics is dying? [video]”
Exactly. Consistently untestable and unfalsifiable claims for decades has to be seriously questioned at some point, and I think we're well beyond that point. This is especially true for string theory. I'm particularly fond of how Angela Collier laid out the timeline of string theory in her video on it[0] as well as the consequences that science communication is now facing as a result. [0] = [this video]
Recommends carrozo · 2026-01 · on “The string theory hype machine will never die”
not a physicist but this video by Angela Collier is a fun watch: “string theory lied to us and now science communication is hard. [this video]