On the Need to Interpret General Relativity

The main subject of my research is Whitehead's alternative interpretation of the General Theory of Relativity (GTR). This research can only be of value if the business of interpreting GTR is not irrelevant. Of course, Einstein, Weyl, Eddington, Whitehead, and many other men of genius, invested a large amount of time and energy in the search for a good interpretation of GTR. But pointing at their involvement to justify the importance of interpreting GTR boils down to giving an argument by authority. The invocation of Einstein's glory and fame is insufficient to counter the possible reproach that this kind of research is a waste of precious tax money. Something else and more is needed.
In September 2007 I attended a conference in Budapest, "Mathematics, Physics and Philosophy in the Interpretations of Relativity Theory." I was one of the many participants who did not question the need for an interpretation of GTR. I took it for granted. There was, however, a dissident in our midst. Erik Curiel was to give a presentation in defense of his position that GTR does not require an interpretation. For someone intending to argue that GTR stands in need of no interpretation, it cannot have been easy to attend a series of lectures displaying a variety of 'superfluous' interpretations of GTR. Moreover, Curiel was increasingly upset by the technical inaccuracies that marred some of the lectures. So he decided to leave the conference prior to his own talk. His highly critical remarks during question time, and his abrupt departure, drew my attention to the text of his scheduled talk in the conference proceedings - "What about General Relativity Requires Interpretation?" (Curiel 2007)
Curiel left the 2007 conference in Budapest before I gave my presentation on Whitehead's interpretation of GTR, but it felt as if he had personally addressed me after my lecture with the devastating question: "So what?" That is why I will try and respond to the questioning of the relevance of the search for a good interpretation of GTR, including my own research on Whitehead's proposal, by reference to Curiel's lecture.