I'm actually pretty optimistic that we'll solve this; it's hard to combine the insights of quantum theory and general relativity, but that very difficulty is helpful, because it provides a strong constraint in a situation where we don't have enough experiments. (continued)
The yearning for this sort of understanding of quantum field theory drove Arthur Wightman and his various colleagues and disciples to seek axioms for the discipline that might simultaneously free it of all dependence on historical accident and expose its absolute essentials.
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The program of the axiomatic quantum field theorists remains incomplete (and indeed one can win a million dollars merely by proving that it can be completed), but that doesn't mean it was entirely without successes. We do now know why some things must be so, and not otherwise.
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Of course the few things we understand in this way fall far short of what we'd need to remove all contingency from the formulation of the standard model. But it's not just by historical accident that we are where we are; not everything is up for grabs. And it's nice to know that.
End of conversation
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