Robert Dawson wrote:
It is not clear to me that the majority of theoretical physicists agree with the negative view of categorical string theory held by the cited blog writers; and in the absence of a consensus among the physicists, I for one (with an undergradate degree and some graduate courses in physics) do not feel qualified to take sides; if anything, errors should be on the side of trying out too many ideas, not too few.
I was trying to elicit an open response from those who *do* know about the value (or lack of it) of categorical string theory. In particular, I would like to have an answer to this question. Why is it that anything which even remotedly claims to have applications to physics (particularly string theory) is given (what I view as) uncritical support in our circles? Best, Marta