What is Digg?562 Comments
- moebiusdave, on 11/15/2007, -6/+533a surf bum in summer. a ski bum in winter. A doctorate in theoretical physics. This guy is my hero.
- phaseblue, on 11/15/2007, -12/+269Who else was expecting an Onion article? Not that this isn't cool too, of course.
- Nightlie, on 11/15/2007, -1/+217Surfer dude's resume:
EDUCATION
9/91-5/99 University of California, San Diego
5/99 Ph.D. in Physics, G.P.A. - 3.9
Honors Fellowships - UC Regents fellowship, ARCS Foundation fellowship
9/86-6/91 University of California, Los Angeles
6/91 B.S. in Physics and B.S. in Mathematics, G.P.A. - 3.9
(4.0 in Physics and 4.0 in Mathematics)
Academic Honors
Phi Beta Kappa
Sigma Pi Sigma
Golden Key
Graduation Honors
College Honors
Highest Honors in Physics
Highest Honors in Mathematics
Summa Cum Laude
Kinsey Prize for The Outstanding Graduating Senior in Physics
-reddit - stronglikedan, on 11/15/2007, -1/+211He is educated (a doctorate). His career choice has nothing to do with his level or education or intelligence.
- kdehead, on 11/15/2007, -4/+213awesome stuff. if the guy is right he's going to be a science superstar on a level with Einstein.
final paragraph of his paper:
The theory proposed in this paper represents a comprehensive unification program, describing all fields of the standard model and gravity as parts of a uniquely beautiful mathematical structure. The principal bundle connection and its curvature describe how the E8 manifold twists and turns over spacetime, reproducing all known fields and dynamics through pure geometry. Some aspects of this theory are not yet completely understood, and until they are it should be treated with appropriate skepticism. However, the current match to the standard model and gravity is very good. Future work will either strengthen the correlation to known physics and produce successful predictions for the LHC, or the theory will encounter a fatal contradiction with nature. The lack of extraneous structures and free parameters ensures testable predictions, so it will either succeed or fail spectacularly. If E8 theory is fully successful as a theory of everything, our universe is an exceptionally beautiful shape. - romistrub, on 11/15/2007, -9/+187From the comments on the article:
"What are you people talking about? While you waste
time surfing, thinking about the theory of
everything, talking about gravity and the effects of
Einstein good or bad on the world, Islam is
destroying it. Now that subject has gravity."
LMAO!!! - ravan46, on 11/15/2007, -2/+161The guy has a PhD in theoretical physics, so he's not your average surfer dude.
- HollowMarkeD, on 11/15/2007, -7/+157Very cool. Like how they say its a simpler view of the universe but still uses the E8 shape which has 248-dimensions! Its amazing how mathematics discovers theoretical constructs which have no reason to exist in reality, then within a short while can be found to apply to nature. E8 maths was solved in March (http://decenturl.com/telegraph/e8-symmetry), within 8 months its being applied to a TOE.
- ChronicColonic, on 11/15/2007, -3/+118"I have studied the universe and the universe is totally gnarly."
- satanatnmtedu, on 11/15/2007, -7/+120The guy has a PhD in physics. He isn't a drop out surfer dude like the stereotype. Misleading title at best.
- Schneckehaus, on 11/15/2007, -15/+123Live the dream.
Guys like this re my hero. - cornerback42, on 11/15/2007, -7/+93People like this are inspiring to all of us. Good read.
- Monti0, on 11/15/2007, -5/+8620th Century: E=mc²
21st Century: Holy Crap! That = it! - victorycig, on 11/15/2007, -3/+82FTA:
Lisi's breakthrough came when he noticed that some of the equations describing E8's structure matched his own. "My brain exploded with the implications and the beauty of the thing," he tells New Scientist. "I thought: 'Holy crap, that's it!'"
This guy seems really down to earth. Good job on being brilliant *and* human. - shampoovta, on 11/15/2007, -3/+72Wow, way over my head but cool!
- martoq, on 11/15/2007, -4/+68It takes a lot of guts to live that lifestyle. How many of us can say we're living the life we want?
- inactive, on 11/15/2007, -1/+62"What Lisi had realised was that he could find a way to place the various elementary particles and forces on E8's 248 points. What remained was 20 gaps which he filled with notional particles, for example those that some physicists predict to be associated with gravity."
Does this suggest some sort of table of particles? One to go with the Table of Elements? That would be astronomically cool... - Jrepass, on 11/15/2007, -39/+97Makes a weird kind of sense that a surfer would come up with the theory that has stumped physicists for years.
- gn0stik, on 11/15/2007, -5/+55FTA: "The theory is very young, and still in development," he told the Telegraph. "Right now, I'd assign a low (but not tiny) likelyhood to this prediction.
"For comparison, I think the chances are higher that LHC will see some of these particles than it is that the LHC will see superparticles, extra dimensions, or micro black holes as predicted by string theory.
As conservative as this sounds, this is a raving endorsement. Is this the end of all the various string theories? At the very least, the guy has made a name for himself, and hopefully, won't have to sleep on the beach, or in yurts, or anymore.
What is more interesting, is that once again, someone OUTSIDE mainstream science broke with paradigm, and delivered this profound piece of work. To me, that speaks volumes. - WhiskeyLemur, on 06/30/2009, -0/+45"Testable predictions" are always fantastic news. Can't wait to see how this plays out in the future 8)
- romistrub, on 11/15/2007, -1/+45Yeah... the title threw me a curveball like no other. I was expecting a run-of-the-mill surfer dude stumbling upon something while flying high...
- inactive, on 11/15/2007, -2/+43how you like them apples?
- D0m0kun, on 11/15/2007, -0/+37It's a sensationalist headline. It should read: "Physics Ph.D who likes to surf impresses other physics Ph.D's with his model of the universe..
/Good read though - Mooseka, on 11/15/2007, -10/+46"It's hard to figure out the secrets of the universe when you're trying to figure out where you and your girlfriend are going to sleep next month."
haha I hear that. poor stoners with an interest in physics unite. - davidlow, on 11/15/2007, -3/+35Goodbye, E=MC^2.
Hello, "Holy crap, that's it!" - inactive, on 11/15/2007, -2/+33Throw in brain surgery and rock star and we've got the next Buckaroo Bonzai
- HollowMarkeD, on 11/15/2007, -0/+31The link so it works (its in the original article as well) http://decenturl.com/telegraph/e8-symmetry
- Schneckehaus, on 11/15/2007, -5/+36Yeah, it does, we already have one but its terribly incomplete. Our current model and understanding of elementary particles is pretty much guess work.
This would also confirm the existence of dark matter, and support newtons work, which has come under some scrutiny lately in the field of theoretical astro physics.
This guy could have found an immeasurably important piece of the puzzle. - VeryBoredNow, on 11/15/2007, -9/+38Yes I want to be a broke surfer someday too
- Logicexe, on 11/15/2007, -3/+31So because he doesn't work in academia he's not a mainstream scientist? Sorry to burst your bubble but even though his lifestyle might be unusual he's still following all the rules and conventions of science. Compare him to the cranks from the Discovery Institute or Alternative Medicine salesmen. Compared to them he's much more skeptical about his own work and pushes for strict scientific testing. When was the last time a homeopath pushed for strict clinical testing of a homeopathic (non)treatment? When was the last time anyone from the DI came up with a testable hypothesis for Intelligent Design? This guy is as much a mainstream scientist as every other scientist.
- annonimality, on 11/15/2007, -0/+28Read the artcle: "Lisi, who completed his doctorate in theoretical physics in 1999 at the University of California, San Diego."
- mknoll1, on 11/15/2007, -14/+4142
- msaleem, on 11/15/2007, -1/+27Here's the actual paper:
http://digg.com/general_sciences/Here_is_Surfer_du ... - gnilrets, on 11/15/2007, -1/+27I imagine he sleeps in yurts because he doesn't want a job in academia, not because he hasn't been able to get one.
- Humptydank, on 11/15/2007, -3/+28"Eurekrap!"
- ethanpack, on 11/15/2007, -4/+27heroes
- chrillen, on 11/15/2007, -6/+28That's what most people don't realise these days. What you do or where you live decide your intelligence.
- ChrisF79, on 11/15/2007, -7/+29SPICOLI!
- inactive, on 11/15/2007, -2/+23gyros
- Billiam627, on 11/15/2007, -2/+23They always said when E8 was first put out there that it was an answer to a question that hadn't been asked yet. If the Large Hadron proves this guy right, we could have a grand unified theory in a few years time. Exciting stuff...
- whandsfield, on 11/15/2007, -1/+22I was the Ceramics Scholar of Distinction my senior year of undergrad, and I was a President's Scholar. Look for my unifying theory of stoneware next month. It links Porcelain, Stoneware and Gerstley Borate in one grand theory!
- annonimality, on 11/15/2007, -0/+21The life he wants? "Being poor sucks," Lisi says. "It's hard to figure out the secrets of the universe when you're trying to figure out where you and your girlfriend are going to sleep next month."
- madpie, on 11/15/2007, -8/+29Liar. You don't understand it either.
- blakeage, on 11/15/2007, -1/+22I'm gonna go shoot myself now...
- EarlOfLade, on 11/15/2007, -2/+22Well, I have a degree in math, physics and astrophysics, so you decide.
- Humptydank, on 11/15/2007, -0/+19Just a thought: Who says he's living the life he wants? I've seen a lot of times where someone is living what you might be an escape fantasy, but has the same, if not more problems and dissatisfaction as you do.
Clearly he loves physics, and we'd like to imagine him as a vagabond philosopher waiting for his moment in history. But it's just as much of a possibility that he lies awake at night wondering why he can't commit to a post-doc position, and that he gets pretty envious as he starts reading about dummer guys he wen't to school with starting to make names for themselves while he works at a ski shop for rent money.
Okay, that turned out to be more of a downer than I'd planned, but I just wouldn't mythologize that life too much, is all. - LowFuel, on 11/15/2007, -1/+20He broke his Stereo? That sucks.
Maybe we can all pitch in and get him a new one. Which type did he break? - rune420, on 11/15/2007, -0/+18Personally I'd rather be a broke scholar than wealthy and ignorant. Guys like this are truly inspirational, making me all the more excited about finishing my BSc in physics this spring.
- Orion682, on 11/15/2007, -1/+18One thing that I love about it is that, in a way, it shares the same underlying idea that relativity did: that what we observe in the universe is a product of geometry. Gravity is simply the result of the distortion of a straight line. It's an idea that's appealed to me ever since I fully understood it, and conceptually it's absurdly obvious when you really consider it. Thus, the notion that everything we observe, particle and force-wise, is an aspect of the shape of the universe isn't so particularly far-fetched.
- WhiskeyLemur, on 06/30/2009, -0/+16No one claims it's more than a hypothesis. But it's a _testable_ hypothesis according to the article. Theories and laws don't spring full-grown from great thinkers' heads; everything starts as a hypothesis =P
-
Show 51 - 100 of 570 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is