I wouldn't have thought that a wrong theory should lead us to understand better the ordinary quantum field theories or to have new insights about the quantum states of black holes.
Interpretation
Even incorrect theories can enhance our understanding of complex scientific concepts.
Edward Witten highlights the paradoxical nature of scientific inquiry, where even flawed theories can provoke deeper insights into established fields, such as quantum field theories and the behavior of black holes. This suggests that the journey of exploration in science is as valuable, if not more so, than the pursuit of certainty.
In practice
During a lecture on quantum physics, this quote could illustrate how theoretical exploration is vital for understanding complex phenomena.
Quantum mechanics brought an unexpected fuzziness into physics because of quantum uncertainty, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. String theory does so again because a point particle is replaced by a string, which is more spread out.
But the beauty of Einstein's equations, for example, is just as real to anyone who's experienced it as the beauty of music. We've learned in the 20th century that the equations that work have inner harmony.
You have that one basic string, but it can vibrate in many ways. But we're trying to get a lot of particles because experimental physicists have discovered a lot of particles.
Regardless of any deviations, it was clear I was supposed to end up in math and physics.
Even before string theory, especially as physics developed in the 20th century, it turned out that the equations that really work in describing nature with the most generality and the greatest simplicity are very elegant and subtle.
It's an exaggeration to say that I came up with M-theory.
The world today is made, it is powered by science; and for any man to abdicate an interest in science is to walk with open eyes towards slavery.
It is a test of true theories not only to account for but to predict phenomena.
Any physical theory is always provisional, in the sense that it is only a hypothesis: you can never prove it. No matter how many times the results of experiments agree with some theory, you can never be sure that the next time the result will not contradict the theory.
From a certain temperature on, the molecules 'condense' without attractive forces; that is, they accumulate at zero velocity. The theory is pretty, but is there some truth in it.
The function of muscle is to pull and not to push, except in the case of the genitals and the tongue.
I love science, and it pains me to think that so many are terrified of the subject or feel that choosing science means you cannot also choose compassion, or the arts, or be awed by nature. Science is not meant to cure us of mystery, but to reinvent and reinvigorate it.
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