The Soggy Spaniel

Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray   by Sabine Hossenfelder. Basic Books, June 2018. Reviewed by Steven Willing, MD ________________ “Physical laws should have mathematical beauty”. Paul Dirac, Nobel Laureate* ___________________ Way back in 1973, the world of theoretical physics reached a dead end. That year marked the last successful prediction of any elemental particles - the top and bottom quarks - which were experimentally verified in 1995 and 1977 respectively. (The Higgs boson, finally detected in 2012, had been predicted in the 1960’s). Since then, there has been no successful prediction that would supersede the standard model.   

Here, as anywhere, the wisdom of the great C. S. Lewis should be taken to heart: "There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. .. It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind...which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously - no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption ."  C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory. [italics added]

A glimpse of current literature regarding the benefits of monogamy: Effects on adults What Do We Know About the Link Between Marriage and Health? Journal of Family Issues 31(8):1019-1040, 2010 : §   “Marriage reduces depression” §   “Unmarried adults are more likely to drink, use marijuana, and drive recklessly” §   “Married men and women experience lower mortality at every age relative to those who remain unmarried or lose their spouse through widowhood or divorce” §   “A number of rigorous studies reveal that marriage can also lead to better general physical health and better outcomes for some specific health conditions, including arthritis, hypertension, and heart disease” The impact of polygamy on women's mental health: a systematic review | Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences 22(1):47-62, 2013 “Individual studies report a higher prevalence of somatization, depression, anxiety, hostility, psychoticism and psychiatric disorder in polygynous wives as well as