String Theory: Divine Science?

Olivia Parlow

Let’s play a game of Guess Who. Since you’re not here to ask me questions, we’re going to play a little differently. I will give you facts about our mystery person and you will pick from a choice of two options: a String Theorist or a Priest. 

Here are your hints:

  1. This person is looking for a way to explain our existence and our universe.

  2. This person’s explanation is unfalsifiable, meaning it cannot be tested. 

  3. This person believes in things that cannot be seen or experienced here on earth. 




If you guessed both of them, you would be correct! While many see the two fields of religion and science to be very distinct, the tale of string theory proves them to have more in common than one might think. However, what do these similarities mean for the future of science?


Theoretical physicists have been on a quest to unify the two great understandings of physics: the general theory of relativity and quantum theory. General relativity was established in 1915 by Albert Einstein and explains how gravity affects the fabric of space-time. Quantum theory describes matter, more specifically the microscopic, subatomic particles that are the building blocks of nature. The unification of these two understandings into one single equation is what many physicists dedicate their life’s work to; this would be widely known as the “Theory of Everything.” 


While there are many proposed unification theories, one theory that was considered promising is known as string theory. String theory proposes that the fundamental building-blocks of nature are not particles but instead strings. The theory fascinated many with its mathematical elegance and beauty, but as time went on, its promise for unification dwindled and the theory lost support. 


String theory was beautiful, and string theory worked. But the equations only work if you assume there are ten dimensions. Our reality only has four (three of space and one of time). String theory requires supersymmetry, which adds a partner particle to all of the particles of the standard model, but we have yet to see these particles within our universe. Lastly, the theory permits roughly 10^500 different solutions, a metaphorical “landscape” of possible universes. This means that the theory is unpredictable and can give you nearly any solution you want. 


Now, it’s time you ask me, “So what?”


My “So what?” is this: When does this theoretical research cross the line from being scientific to being almost religious? Religion is just another way for people to explain our existence and our universe. A unification theory is looking for one single way to explain our universe. The existence of God is unfalsifiable, but so is the existence of string theory. Some religious people believe in the heavens, an additional dimension if you will. Ed Witten, a proponent of string theory, believes in 6 or 7 additional dimensions. 



I am not a science hater, despite my feisty attitude towards theoretical physicists. However, I do find it alarming when there is a suggestion for me to change my understanding of the scientific method in order to properly react to string theory’s unification. I have always known testability as a pillar of the scientific method. However, cosmologist George Ellis and astronomer Joseph Silk wrote that some scientists argue that “if a theory is sufficiently elegant and explanatory, it need not be tested experimentally.” For me, accepting string theory would mean accepting an entirely different definition of science. If string theory does not need to be falsified and tested in our real world, what does that mean for the rest of scientific research and experimentation? 






Works Cited

AccessScience Editors. “Unification theories and a theory of everything.” AccessScience, McGraw Hill, 2014.

Castelvecchi, Davide. “Is String Theory Science?” Scientific American, Scientific American, 23 Dec. 2015, www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-string-theory-science/.

Woit, Peter, and Alexis Papazoglou. “String Theory Is Dead: Peter Woit.” IAI TV - Changing How the World Thinks, 26 June 2023, iai.tv/articles/string-theory-is-dead-peter-woit-auid-2399.

Wood, Charlie, and Vicky Stein. “What Is String Theory?” Space.Com, Space, 20 Jan. 2022, www.space.com/17594-string-theory.html. 

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