Question:

General Theory of Everything?

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Does anyone here think that focusing on the idea of the "General Theory of Everything" is causing science to become closed minded, thus halting some major scientific advances? I mean, if we focus on an idea that explains everything, wouldn't that be causing science to block out some strange, yet possible ideas as to understanding the universe?

Thoughts and opinions are appreciated. Thanks in advance everyone!

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  1. I think that trying to find a grand unifying theory is a worthwhile cause. As far as I know, it would establish how matter, energy, gravity and all the weak and strong sub-atomic forces are related. It makes sense to try and find out. If anyone succeeds, then it could be used to solve many of the unknowns in science, and lead to other scientific advances. It would also probably raise more questions, but then - that's what science is all about.

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  2. It's not like there's just one physicist who can't divide their attention. There are lots of physicists.  And some are working on String Theory, or M Theory, or Loop Quantum Gravity, and so on.  And not everyone is working on a Theory of Everything (TOE) or Grand Unified Theory (GUT), or even some other body part.  There are at least thousands of problems to solve.  Some physicists just write software for banks.

    But getting a theory that combines General Relativity with Quantum Mechanics would be a big step forward.  Just as big a step as combining electricity with magnetism was.


  3. You're totally missing the concept of a "Theory of Everything" in the context of physics. Basically, there are two major theories in physics: General Relativity, which explains the very large (galaxies, stars, planets) and Quantum Mechanics, which explains the very small (atoms, protons, electrons etc). Each theory has been proved to be incredibly accurate when explaining its own field, but when applied to the opposite field it doesn't work as well. For example, relativity cannot explain how gravity works at the subatomic scale.

    The much vaunted "Theory of Everything" or TOE is nothing more than a theory that unites general relativity with quantum mechanics. The importance of a TOE cannot be understated when one considers the origins of the universe - the singularity. We believe that when the universe was first formed, it was both incredibly massive and incredibly small. We do not yet have a theory that can explain something that is both very small and very massive!

    String theory, and in more recently M-Theory, has been touted as a potential TOE.

  4. 42.....sorry!....could not resist the obvious...ashamed...

  5. "General Theory of Everything" sounds like a pseudo religious theory to explain God in a scientific manner.

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