Symmetry has been fundamental to every unification step taken in the history of physics.
Symmetry removed us from the centre of the universe.
It underpinned the relativity of Galileo and Einstein.
It unified electricity and magnetism.
Quantum theory brought us permutation symmetry of particles and further unifications from gauge theory.
The quest to further unify through symmetry then brought us Grand Unified Theories and culminated with supergravity.
Then the rise of superstring theory dramatically changed the way physicists thought about symmetry.
Superstring theory is full of symmetry, but its different superselection sectors have very different gauge groups.
Topology change made it hard to see how different diffeomorphism groups could be combined into one form.
String theorists no longer believe that there can be a universal symmetry that unifies them all.
Other approaches influenced by complexity theory have suggested that symmetry in physics could be emergent rather than fundamental and that is now becoming the prevailing view.
Even the symmetry which combined time and space is being challenged by the idea that time by itself is fundamental and absolute after all.
My opinion is that symmetry principles are still the key to understanding how the laws of nature work.
My principle of event-symmetry which I proposed 15 years ago can be used to unify matter and spacetime by combining the permutation symmetry of particles with the diffeomorphism symmetry of general relativity.
I am gratified that this symmetry has since been utilised by physicists persuing a variety of approaches to quantum gravity.
I cited some of them in my essay but a more complete list can be found at http://www.weburbia.com/press/cite.htm
However, in each case the physicists have reinvented the idea without reference to my work or each others and they have missed the important insights that I have been trying to communicate.
My claim is that event-symmetry is just part of a much larger symmetry that can be extended to gauge symmetries using matrix models.
By applying the principle to string field theory I found that it can be further extended using a form of necklace lie algebra and multiple quantisation.
The result is a symmetry so huge that it has the potential to include all the symmetries of string theory in one all-encompassing universal symmetry.
It is my belief that this approach is the best way to find the missing principles that underlie string theory and all of fundamental physics.
Although I have a doctorate in theoretical physics I have not had any affiliation with a research institute for the last twenty years.
This makes me an outsider to the physics community and it is becoming harder to express my views.
These days the peer-reviewed journals are obsessed with their impact factors and there is no chance for an outsider such as myself to publish a paper on such foundational issues.
In the 90's I was able to submit articles to the arXiv but since then it has become very difficult for someone with no affiliation.
Like many others in the same position I have been blacklisted and can no longer contribute there.
My only other option has been to use my own websites and blogs to promote my theories but this medium is seen as the preserve of crackpots and is ignored by serious physicists.
As a researcher who is unfunded and lacking the collaborative discussions that are necessary to stimulate ideas, it is increasingly hard to continue working on physics.
As this essay competition draws to its conclusion I would like to thank the FQXi for providing a new avenue for promoting foundational research that is open to all contributors.
For independent physicists like myself it provides a fair opportunity to get recognition for our work.
Any prize in this contest that goes to an outsider could give them the status they need to make people take their work seriously.
From my own personal position I can also say that failure to gain any recognition here will tell me that there is no further way open to me.
Perhaps it is finally time to accept that I have lost touch with the modern approach and I should give up my own personal quest.
Whatever the outcome I will be indebted to the FQXi for determining the future course of my work.