Here you will find material related to my rebuttal of Eric Weinstein‘s proposal for a “Theory of Everything” known as Geometric Unity, which has been most visibly promoted by UCSD professor of physics Brian Keating. This affair has been more interesting from a sociological perspective than a scientific one, and it provides a case study for several dilemmas of our era, including the power that social media platforms have to shape the public perception of science and the ways in which those who wish to challenge the establishment are unwilling to be challenged themselves.
Not unrelated to this affair is my rebuttal of Pia Malaney and Eric Weinstein’s work claiming to revolutionize economics (A Response to Economics as Gauge Theory).
Primary sources:
Eric Weinstein: paper (4/2021), video (4/2020)
Brian Keating podcasts: 4/2021, 8/2020 (w/ PBS SpaceTime), 8/2020 (w/ Stephen Wolfram), 5/2020, 1/2020 (w/ Garrett Lisi)
Brian Keating on Theories of Everything podcast: video (6/2020)
Lex Fridman interviews Brian Keating: video (1/2022)
Criticisms:
Papers / Articles:
A Response to Geometric Unity (2/2021, w/ Theo Polya)
Guest blog post on Sabine Hossenfelder’s blog (3/2021)
Eric Weinstein Says He Solved the Universe’s Mysteries. Scientists Disagree (Vice, 4/2021)
Eric Weinstein: How Not to Formulate a Theory of Everything (Cantor’s Paradise, 11/2021)
Podcasts:
Decoding The Gurus: Tim Nguyen on Geometric Unity (6/21)
Eigenbros: Inconsistencies with Geometric Unity (6/2021, contains additional material on the Seiberg-Witten equations)
The Wright Show: Is Eric Weinstein a Crackpot? (7/2021) (afterthoughts)
The Mills Series: The Eric Weinstein / Timothy Nguyen Affair (7/2021)
Weinstein / Keating’s Responses:
Extended
Eric Weinstein & Brian Keating on Clubhouse (the infamous discussion about Theo Polya) (5/2021)
Brief
Brian Keating’s Geometric Unity release podcast (4/2021, at 26:34, 59:16)
Joe Rogan #1628 (4/2021, near 73:30)
Related Discussions on The Cartesian Cafe
Refuting Theories of Everything (with Scott Aaronson)
Testing Theories of Everything (with Ethan Siegel)
Brian Keating’s Losing the Nobel Prize Makes a Good Point but … (with Ethan Siegel)
Fragments of the IDW: Joe Rogan, Sam Harris, Eric Weinstein (with Sean Carroll)
Timothy Nguyen 