  String theory, as a theory containing quantum gravity, is usually thought to
require more dimensions of spacetime than the usual 3+1. Here I argue on
physical grounds that needing extra dimensions for strings may well be an
artefact of forcing a fixed flat background space. I also show that discrete
simplicial approaches to gravity in 3+1 dimensions have natural string-like
degrees of freedom which are inextricably tied to the dynamical space in which
they evolve. In other words, if simplicial approaches to 3+1 dimensional
quantum gravity do indeed give consistent theories, they may essentially
contain consistent background-independent string theories.
