“The landscape problem and the problem of background independence are closely linked. The latter is the only route the former has to experimental confirmation.”
"A perspective on the landscape problem" arXiv (Feb 15, 2012)
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Lee Smolin 52
American cosmologist 1955Related quotes

“When you know that every problem is only a false problem, you are dangerously close to salvation.”
The New Gods (1969)

Man and Socialism in Cuba (1965)
Context: A school of artistic experimentation is invented, which is said to be the definition of freedom; but this “experimentation” has its limits, imperceptible until there is a clash, that is, until the real problems of individual alienation arise. Meaningless anguish or vulgar amusement thus become convenient safety valves for human anxiety. The idea of using art as a weapon of protest is combated. Those who play by the rules of the game are showered with honors — such honors as a monkey might get for performing pirouettes. The condition is that one does not try to escape from the invisible cage.

Statement in Detroit, Michigan (10 November 1963).
Attributed

Seventh Thesis
Idea for a Universal History from a Cosmopolitan Point of View (1784)
Source: Mathematical Thought from Ancient to Modern Times (1972), p. 177
Context: Closely related to the problem of the parallel postulate is the problem of whether physical space is infinite. Euclid assumes in Postulate 2 that a straight-line segment can be extended as far as necessary; he uses this fact, but only to find a larger finite length—for example in Book I, Propositions 11, 16, and 20. For these proofs Heron gave new proofs that avoided extending the lines, in order to meet the objection of anyone who would deny that the space was available for the extension.