Final but Incomplete?

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:23050116,
            doi = {10.48660/23050116},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/23050116},
            author = {Dawid, Richard},
            keywords = {Quantum Gravity, Cosmology},
            language = {en},
            title = {Final but Incomplete?},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2023},
            month = {may},
            note = {PIRSA:23050116 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }
          

Abstract

String theory has not come close to a complete formulation after half a century of intense research. On the other hand, a number of features of the theory suggest that the theory in its complete form may be a final theory. The combination of conceptual incompleteness and allusions to finality seems difficult to grasp. Two main points are made in this talk. First, it is pointed out that finality claims in the context of string theory are motivated in a fundamentally different way than traditional claims of finality one finds in earlier physics. Second, it is argued that finality and chronic conceptual incompleteness may be related to each other in a string theory context in an interesting way. The talk ends with discussing possible implications of this situation for the long-term prospects of theory building in fundamental physics.