211 research outputs found
Practices in scholarly publishing : making sense of rejection
Abstract: In South Africa, criticisms of peer review often hinge on allegations of racism, anti-African attitudes, and viewpoint discrimination. This article discusses the issue of peer-review, and examines these allegations in terms of claims of Western conceptual gatekeeping. Cautions are offered on allegations of exceptionalism, as are some strategies on dealing with the process of peer review
Some comments on "The Mathematical Universe"
I discuss some problems related to extreme mathematical realism, focusing on
a recently proposed "shut-up-and-calculate" approach to physics
(arXiv:0704.0646, arXiv:0709.4024). I offer arguments for a moderate
alternative, the essence of which lies in the acceptance that mathematics is
(at least in part) a human construction, and discuss concrete consequences of
this--at first sight purely philosophical--difference in point of view.Comment: 11 page
Mirror Symmetry and Other Miracles in Superstring Theory
The dominance of string theory in the research landscape of quantum gravity
physics (despite any direct experimental evidence) can, I think, be justified
in a variety of ways. Here I focus on an argument from mathematical fertility,
broadly similar to Hilary Putnam's 'no miracles argument' that, I argue, many
string theorists in fact espouse. String theory leads to many surprising,
useful, and well-confirmed mathematical 'predictions' - here I focus on mirror
symmetry. These predictions are made on the basis of general physical
principles entering into string theory. The success of the mathematical
predictions are then seen as evidence for framework that generated them. I
attempt to defend this argument, but there are nonetheless some serious
objections to be faced. These objections can only be evaded at a high
(philosophical) price.Comment: For submission to a Foundations of Physics special issue on "Forty
Years Of String Theory: Reflecting On the Foundations" (edited by G. `t
Hooft, E. Verlinde, D. Dieks and S. de Haro)
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