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Hawking: No 'Theory of Everything'

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the you-all-been-punked dept.

Flash Modin writes "In a Scientific American essay based on their new book A Grand Design, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow are now claiming physicists may never find a theory of everything. Instead, they propose a 'family of interconnected theories' might emerge, with each describing a certain reality under specific conditions. The claim is a reversal for Hawking, who claimed in 1980 that there would be a unified theory by the turn of the century."

6 of 465 comments (clear)

  1. Wisdom from DS9 by MBGMorden · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm reminded of a scene from DS9. Sure it's fiction, but it always held some sway with me:

    Bashir: "Trevean was right. There is no cure. The Dominion made sure of that. But I was so arrogant, I thought I could find one in a week!"
    Jadzia: "Maybe it was arrogant to think that. But it's even more arrogant to think there isn't a cure just because you couldn't find it."

    Hawking a smart guy, but he by no means knows everything. Throwing in the towel and declaring that there is no right answer simply because he hasn't found it just doesn't hold much water with me. We might not figure it out for 100 years. We might figure it out tomorrow. We might NEVER figure it out, but simple logic says that there is a unified equation. It might not be simple or pretty, but if the universe operates on a consistent set of physical laws, it's out there.

    --
    "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    1. Re:Wisdom from DS9 by electron+sponge · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition." - Carl Sagan

    2. Re:Wisdom from DS9 by guyminuslife · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Simple logic says a lot of things, some of which it turns out are not true.

      --
      I don't believe in time. It's a grand conspiracy designed to sell watches.
    3. Re:Wisdom from DS9 by MortimerGraves · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I wonder if it may be an example of Clarke's First Law:

      "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is probably wrong."

  2. Re:The hand of Godel? by abigor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Godel used the term "formal system" to specifically mean a recursive axiomatic system that can do arithmetic. I don't think it really applies here.

  3. Re:Past His Prime by oldhack · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You're conflating blings with accomplishment. Should have listed his papers instead of awards given to him.

    --
    Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.