Most Physicists Don't Agree on Most Things

Discussion (4 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

JohnFen•about 4 hours ago

The title is radically untrue. Most physicists agree on the overwhelming majority of physics. The body of the article makes clear that the title is deceptive:

> asking physicists what they actually believe about ten of the most contested questions in physics.

In other words, most physicists don't agree on ten specific questions that have not been settled. That's a tautology and is a very far cry from "most things".

xscott•about 1 hour ago

There's a link you can click to see the personal background of the respondents. It's tough to know what "researcher in a field not listed" means, but it's possible that over 60% are not even physicists:

    30.8% - A researcher in a field not listed above
    21.2% - A science enthusiast
    18.0% - A researcher studying quantum physics
    12.0% - A researcher studying astrophysics or cosmology
     9.2% - A researcher studying gravity
     8.8% - Other

umpalumpaaa•about 2 hours ago

Yeah. And they are contested not because physicists can’t agree but because there is a lack of evidence. With evidence most will agree.

JohnFen•about 1 hour ago

Excellent point. It's a little sad that this has to be explained, but it very often does.

chermi•about 3 hours ago

Trash. When you say "most", your sample should at least pretend to cover the range of "things".

hangsi•about 2 hours ago

It sounds like you might be a physicist who disagrees?

chermi•about 1 hour ago

Yeah. But I think its a little more complicated than my quick dismissal. The headline would be true of any honest field. Both the question and the answer are biasing toward thoughts of controversial things. A better approach would be pre-compilation or "things" irrespective of the activity and public perception, then ask opinion on each. If you only ask about unsettled things, how couldn't there be disagreement? Otherwise they would be settled!

Most Physicists Don't Agree on Most Things

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Discussion (4 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews