Edoardo Livolsi, The End of Fitting, Tuning, Symmetry Prescriptions, Open Theories, and Big Science
philarchive.org
A bold new paper argues that the entire toolkit of modern physics — from String Theory to Dark Matter — is built on methodological sins that science should abandon.
FalsifiabilityDemarcation ProblemUnderdetermination of TheoryParadigm Shift
Theory Briefing
- Livolsi targets 'fitting, tuning, and symmetry prescriptions' as pseudo-explanatory crutches propping up frameworks like SMEFT and Supersymmetry.
- General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics survive empirically, but the paper argues their theoretical extensions have drifted into unfalsifiable 'open theories'.
- The critique lands squarely on Big Science institutions, suggesting resource-heavy programs like String Theory persist via sociology, not evidence.