With so many trained mathematical / theoretical physicists around even the slightest experimental hint from nature would bring about a scientific revolution and new paradigms - like in real time.
The lack of news from the "deep" frontiers of fundamental physics might end tomorrow or might last a millenium. Its impossible to tell.
The pace of our increasing understanding of universe is not particularly predictable beyond these periods that benefit from simple scaling rules (ever bigger detectors etc.)
I’m no mystic but one idea with slim evidence I just can’t shake is that anything and everything that’s theoretically elegant will find application or explanatory power in the fullness of time. Besides noneuclidean geometry, integer partitions come to top of mind as something that looks pure finding applications that we didn’t know we needed, and surprisingly fast.
I can only barely understand the explanation for things like monstrous moonshine, but I’m with Conway on this stuff anyway.. there has to be a reason, it can’t just be a coincidence. Or in more classical terms, maybe nature abhors a vacuum, but not in the original sense. Lots of math is just too cool to not use somewhere.
Well, at least, not so far.