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Naturalness and The Standard Model

What is Naturalness?

When scientists say 'Natural', they mean something along the lines of generic, or typical.

There's also an undercurrent of, what we can expect from Nature, and it's more arrogant form how Nature should behave.

In theory space, Naturalness means a low level theory shouldn't sensitively depend on a high level theory.

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We should be able to start at any high level theory, and work our way down to the standard model, but if we have to pick a certain theory at high resolution in order to get to the standard model, then we have to fine tune the start.

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Generally, an experienced scientist can examine a system, predict the behavior, and if it behaves unpredictably (unnaturally), this is taken as an indication that there may be things left to discover about the system.

However, if one goes looking through a systems components for precursors for emergent behavior, then one could find oneself assuming there are rocks left unturned at the system level, when there aren't.

Some of the surprises, or unnatural occurrences that Physicists deal with, are:

The size of the Cosmological Constant.

The Hierarchy Problem, concerning the ratio between the strength of gravity and the other fundamental forces, which is larger than expected.

Referenced in

**Chapter One: Anything Goes**

What's interesting is that you would almost never think something like propaganda would be a tool of scientists, but it certainly is, for instance, Physics, with regard to Naturalness and The Standard Model, has been known to be rather dismissive of theories that posses (or lack) numerical qualities that are not considered in-line with the norms of the day.

Naturalness and The Standard Model