Unified, Unified Theory

Theory of Everything (TOE), Unified Field Theory (UFT), whatever you want to call them, I am something of a connoisseur. A frustrating hobby at times considering I have only a basic understanding of physics... especially the math part. Nonetheless, I am endlessly fascinated by the topic because I do understand enough science to find the current conventional explanation of physical reality more than a little ridiculous.

Fans of logic would agree that the dozens of TOE candidates must either be wrong or at least wrong on contradictory points. They simply cannot all be right, yet the proponents of these ideas are doggedly passionate about the correctness of their theory. Reading various theories, I have found many interesting and often compelling arguments made. What I can't help but sense, however, is that these theories are equivalent to the blind men, each describing a different part of the elephant (http://www.wordfocus.com/word-act-blindmen.html).

So at last my point: a research group should be formed to combine, cross reference, distill, disprove, and otherwise attempt to determine the true explanation of reality. Such a group should include various open minds, not just conventional physicists. I picture an eclectic group consisting of minds of varying specialties: abstract thinkers, engineers, logicians, and of course at least one brilliant and well trained physicist. The group would need to exercise extraordinary discipline in order to avoid becoming bias towards one idea or other. It is entirely possible, and is often the case, that a theory will seem so nearly correct only to fail a critical test. The group must also be open to the possibility that none of theories may prove viable, though I would imagine that at least one or two solid concepts will result. Another hurtle will be overlooking the poor presentation, or the repulsive traits of the presenters. Each idea should be given a reasonable chance, and an earnest attempt should be made to normalize the nomenclature and distill the essence of each. Lastly, each idea should have it's lineage traced to conventional physics, with careful consideration of any departures.

So... I do not have the time or energy to orchestrate such a thing, but what I might be able to do is to start a list of TOEs and let others contribute and possibly go from there. A wiki seems an ideal home... I'll try to find a good candidate.

Just a side note, here is a pretty good summary of the sentiment of mainstream science on the topic (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Everything): "Unlike professional physicists, who are generally aware that their proposed theory is incomplete, untested, and likely to be wrong and who are aware of the huge difficulties and challenges involved in creating a TOE, amateurs who create TOE's tend to be unaware of what work has already been done, the mechanisms for testing scientific theories and the fact that most proposed theories are wrong." Though I partly agree, I also tend to think that most ideas come from left field, if you know what I mean.