Sabine Hossenfelder: Lost in Math

Join us for a virtual discussion with Sabine Hossenfelder, live-streamed direct from Frankfurt, Germany, about her concern that theoretical physicists have failed to make any major breakthroughs for more than four decades because they are obsessed with the goal that an accurate theory must be beautiful—at least to mathematicians.

Hossenfelder argues that when this belief in beauty becomes too dogmatic, it conflicts with scientific objectivity, and so may be interfering with our ability to understand black holes or why relativity theory and quantum mechanics have issues with each other. It may also be encouraging the pursuit of untestable string theory and supersymmetry explanations beyond what is scientifically useful (but which is still mathematically intriguing).

Hear why Hossenfelder is insisting, to the generation of theoreticians that preceded her, that progress will probably not be made until they conclude that physics isn’t math. It’s choosing the right math.

MLF ORGANIZER

George Hammond

NOTES

MLF: Humanities

SPEAKERS

Sabine Hossenfelder

Research Fellow, Superfluid Dark Matter Group, Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies; Blogger, "Backreaction"; Author, Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray

In Conversation with George Hammond

Author, Conversations With Socrates

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on April 20th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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