String theory and communications policy

Lee Smolin's “The Trouble With Physics” has been occupying me recently.  It's not an easy read.  It's a cultural history of string theory as a grand, unifying, and profession-altering movement. 

Smolin makes a key distinction between “background-dependent” and “background-independent” theories.  Newton viewed the background of space and time as an absolute, a “fixed stage on which a grand drama is played out.”  This kind of absolute fixed stage as a framework for theory makes the theory “background-dependent.” 

Smolin points out that Einstein's general theory of relativity is different — no fixed stage, no absolutes, everything interacting and dynamical.  So it's a “background-independent” theory.

For a theory to be successfully unifying, Smolin argues it needs to have a few key elements:

1.  “have profound conceptual consequences”
2.  lead to predictions of new phenomena
3.  be testable in detail in the real world (something that hasn't happened with string theory).

The telcos' view of the internet is that it should be moved into a private, non-common-carriage model.  They're clearly operating in a Newtonian, “background-dependent” way — their assumption is that the internet is a cable television network running over a telephone network, and that this fixed picture will remain in place.  They have a grand unifying theory, and it is based on control:  packet discrimination will bring us all to a better future.  For them, this is a beautiful theory.

But does it match reality?  Are quality of service guarantees really worth it (either to the telcos or to consumers)?  John Waclawsky often argues (paraphrasing) that time sensitive applications are continuously being improved because of  Moore's Law.  Capacity is increasing and the underlying networking technology is working more quickly.  So QoS doesn't add much.

Bottom line:  It may be that the telcos' grand unifying theory isn't testable in reality.  Like string theory.

I'm still working my way through Smolin and will report when I come out the other end.

February 19, 2007 | Filed Under main page 

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