This is so depressing. It's nearly impossible to form a confident opinion these days without a ton of effort. I heard Sabine, I said to myself...makes sense...and it looks like she's put a lot of work into understanding all of this, and she is a professional. So that was it.
Now you're saying she's wrong. Very wrong. And you're a nuclear reactor physicist (thanks for comment!) Am I going to go read all of the relevant references for myself and study the state of the art well enough to understand it all? No, I'm not because I'm not a policy maker or advisor.
I feel like there is a legitimate problem with science communication, especially where it can influence government policy.
FWIW, as someone with a degree in physics, I don't know anyone with a similar background that watches her content. It's not that she is frequently wrong, it is that the opinions are pretty biased and cherry picking. She seems to be more focused on content creation than the actual physics. Honestly I think PBS does a much better job, and importantly stresses that their presentation is overly simplified. A lot of science is extremely nuanced and a first order approximation can lead you in the complete opposite direction, so it usually is a good indicator at who to trust. Are they telling you the way it is or are they attempting to convey a complex topic as simply and accurately as possible? The difference is often subtle.
It's worth mentioning that being a theoretical physicist working in a niche subfield doesn't necessarily qualify you to talk broadly about other fields and assess their societal impacts. I think these types of videos work best when it's clearly just a smart person sharing what they've learned to engage your interest rather than as a substitute for a lecture by an expert.
Sabine is very opinionated, which is fine for a theorist, but I do find that she sometimes slightly misrepresents the views she disagrees with in her science communication.
> (concluding that they are too complex and expensive)
She states "To make a long story short, they didn't catch on, and I don't think they ever will."
She states her opinion, and there's nothing wrong with that, but (a) others may have a different opinion, and (b) it may be possible to make them more practical if more effort is put into them that has been in the past.
Sabine I've found to be spreading nothing but FUD personally. I've only watched a few of her videos but she seems to enjoy inflating minor issues into major ones and then proclaiming everything can't work.
Now you're saying she's wrong. Very wrong. And you're a nuclear reactor physicist (thanks for comment!) Am I going to go read all of the relevant references for myself and study the state of the art well enough to understand it all? No, I'm not because I'm not a policy maker or advisor.
I feel like there is a legitimate problem with science communication, especially where it can influence government policy.