Yea, I question that shit on the daily. More fun than way!

Most people question themselves more than once, that’s healthy. But you don’t have to be absolutely certain of a label to use it, and you don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Use what feels most right in the moment, and focus on the feelings over the labels themselves. If you think bi doesn’t feel right, you can use something similar that feels more comfortable, or an umbrella term, or no label at all. And if you find something totally different that feels right instead, you can switch to that too. As many times as you want, as often as you want. There’s no limits to exploring your identity.

The main thing is not to let yourself get too caught up in trying to perfectly define something that is, ultimately, unique to you. Labels are only useful as far as they help you understand yourself and communicate to others. If “bi” is doing that for you, don’t stress it. If it isn’t, it’s time for some self reflection and exploration.

I do think this is more an issue with science communication broadly than string theory specifically - every field has its own examples, and medicine is notorious for it - but she is right that scientific researchers (the subject matter experts) have a responsibility to accurately communicate their work when speaking to the public.

Its one thing for an enthusiast to inadvertently oversell a concept to the public as fact because they are excited and only understand at only a basic level. It’s another entirely for someone who’s been researching that concept for 30-40 years, with the express intent of proving or disproving its validity, to oversell it as fact when they’re whole job is to be intimately familiar with its shortcomings. They, of all people, should know better - and that means they have a responsibility to do better.

Science does get messy, by design, but it is the duty of those who communicate their science to be honest about that messiness, not mask it by unfounded statements to sell their ideas to people that don’t have the research expertise to spot the falsehoods.