How Beauty Leads Physics Astray

Explore the controversial relationship between beauty and physics in this thought-provoking Santa Fe Institute lecture. Delve into the 40-year stagnation in foundational physics caused by an overreliance on aesthetic arguments. Examine how physicists define beauty in theories and why this approach has led to costly experimental failures. Gain insights into the crisis facing modern physics and the need for a paradigm shift. Learn about historical examples, including quantum mechanics, and understand the impact on major projects like the Large Hadron Collider. Discover how the field can move forward and overcome its current challenges through the perspective of science writer Sabine Hossenfelder.

Introduction
About the lectures
Introducing Sabina Hassenfeld
Crisis in Physics
Why do people speak of a crisis
Problems in physics
Slow progress in physics
What happened to physics
Paul Dirac
Steven Weinberg
Beauty
Simplicity
Naturalness
Elegance
Historical Examples
Quantum Mechanics
Bottom Line
The Large Hadron Collider