There seems to be a problem with the physics …. Too many scientists and researches keep basing their work on calculations, instead of observations… and this is exactly how we ended up with the whole string theory, and now SUSY mess…
They calculate, and calculate, and then they end up with a calculation that looks wonderful on paper, and, by being a calculation, it can be replicated by others- who also say it is great on paper- and since it does, they direct a looot of time and energy in doing whatever can be done to prove that the calculation was right…and we base our predictions on them
Some years, and endless efforts later, we reach a point where we, grudgingly, have to admit that although it all looks nice and clean , and although all the numbers are there — whatever it was that we were predicting is not really happening- so, we start wondering did we calculate everything right???
But the problem is in this kind of approach… we all know that scientists can be as biased as anyone else, and that often they stick to ideas and theories which have no bases — especially when there is a bunch of calculations to “prove” that the idea is sound… SO, when there is a “calculation” which seems exciting, they often stick to it and do whatever can be done in order to make the number function… When, in fact, they were not supposed to match in the first place.
there was an interesting piece on BBC the other day…
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47267081
and all the problems stated there can be applied to physics too . We are putting too much emphasis on numbers , calculations and the “predictions” which come from them… without even considering that they might not be showing us the entire picture or, that they might not be right ( after all, there is perfectly good mathematical formula which proves that 1 is equal to 2… we can “prove” almost anything with numbers)
I said it a couple of das ago
nd now I am repeating myself
But we do need another EInstein, or NEwton… someone who will get their head out of the numbers books and start looking at the world with a different eye