The aim is to figure out what actually is fundamental. The definition of that seems to be that everything else that is true can be built up from the fundamental thing/s. Naturally, we are sometimes going to be mistaken about which things are fundamental and which are not, so we have to be prepared to accept that. Even string theory may turn out to be a useful way of formulating reality wihtout actually being fundamental itself – it might be nothing more than in intriguing matehmatical or geometrical model. When Cumrun was talking about symmetry-breaking and round-about routes from A to B possibly being the only available routes, it made me think that the “strings” might be nothing more than conceptual contour lines in spacetime. This could certainly provide a way of derving quantum gravity, but contour lines are not real – they are a mathematical abstraction.

It is easier for an individual to get funding if he has a long list of papers with his name on them. This is clearly the problem. Individuals should be able to gain reputation simply by having worked in a particular project.

A combination of smart thinking and technology to test theoretical predictions will increase our understanding. Older theories are not always “falsified”, they are simply expanded upon and clarified. Relativity did not “falsify” Newtonian dynamics, relativity showed the Newtonian system to be a limited case. Similarly, either relativity or quantum mechanics (or both) is/are limited views of a broader truth.