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Comment by prof-dr-ir | Hacker News Reader

Among theoretical physicists there is little doubt that Edward Witten is currently the greatest living theoretical physicist. Here is an interview with him from a few weeks ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAbP0magTVY

I think it is a great watch for anyone with an interest in the field.

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Yeah Witten is unusual. He's not just a little bit better than everyone else, he's on a different league.

I knew a someone who was a temp visitor at the Institute for Advanced Studies who was given temp office next to Witten. And he said he wouldn't hear a noise, and the one day he starts typing and doesn't stop until 100 pages of paper are written, like he has it finished in his mind before he starts typing. Somehow I'm inclined to believe it can't be far from truth.

eric weinstein said that witten is the dark lord of string theory; scotching any advance in theoretical physics.

Hasn't stopped Weinstein from publishing. That nobody takes him seriously isn't Witten's fault. At least... not directly. Witten just happens to be very rigorous and a very gifted mathematician, so he sets a high bar for the rest of the field.

Yes, and RFK Jr. says certain vaccines have never worked.

I guess what I want to convey is how sad your comment makes me. What went wrong that makes you, and anyone really, trust that man's opinion on physics?

Here is a cynical but overall rather accurate takedown of Mr. Weinstein:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUr4Tb8uy-Q

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