>>11205801i agree with basically everything you say in this post. however i cannot reconcile it with this post:
>>11205694where you try to discredit everyone else who can't calculate the S-matrix of open string tachyons.
again, i'll say that it does not help string theory when its proponents try to tell people who can't follow its math that they are ... basically, "retarded". that doesn't help string theory at all. if you care about string theory not being killed by the political/popular opinions, you need to represent it in a much more diplomatic way, and such a diplomatic way requires representing it as a currently very speculative theory which is extremely complex in its current formulation, requiring years of study.
trying to denigrate other people (even physicists) for not getting it is not productive. one "job" that string theorists have failed to do for 40-50 years so far is to make it understandable. and this is a genuine failure.
anyhow, i love string theory and i love physics but i do not enjoy seeing string theorists do what you have done -- i.e. denigrating others for having common-sense ideas.
