Physics to the rescue?

TL;DR

This paper critically examines claims that physics' reproducibility issues indicate a healthy scientific process, arguing that such views may hinder interdisciplinary efforts to address broader scientific and societal crises.

Contribution

It challenges the optimistic interpretation of physics' reproducibility, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive approach across disciplines to solve global challenges.

Findings

Physics' reproducibility may not signify a healthy system.

Discipline-specific views can hinder collective crisis solutions.

Interdisciplinary efforts are essential for addressing societal issues.

Abstract

A vast body of literature addresses the complex nature of science's reproducibility crisis. In contrast with this perceived complexity, some recent papers from the discipline of physics suggests that irreproducibility does not point to a systemic crisis, but is, on the contrary, a sign that the science system works properly. These works, while acknowledging the difference between physics and other disciplines mired in the reproducibility crisis, hint that all disciplines could learn from Physics. The present work suggests that this optimistic message, when addressed to struggling disciplines, may invite complacency over other relevant dimensions of crisis, delay its solution, and get into the way of a truly joint effort from all disciplines to tackle the important social and environmental predicaments of the present age.