In high school, my physics teacher dangled a heavy metal fire extinguisher over my head. In demonstration of gravity, he allowed the weight to drop and split my head open.
Or he just discussed our expectation of that happening.
We spent a quarter studying the weight’s affinity to fall, and this sparked a deep obsession inside of me. I’d come home and share what I’d learned with my girl. One time we used the universal gravitation equation to find out how much our genitals were attracted to each other when centimeters away.
Physics opens doors.
When our class got to modern physics and special relativity in the last few weeks, I was already hooked. I threw myself into it, taking an additional online course and leaving the classroom manic with curiosity every single day.
The truths of the universe can be discovered through modern physics. It’s taught us the true nature of gravity, it’s taught us that time is relative, it’s taught us that cherry is the best Burnett’s flavor and that the American Pie franchise went too far.
So it’s somewhat disappointing the general disinterest in it outside the major. Some high schools don’t require you to take a physics course, and therefore a portion of students remain unaware of its greater discoveries until some fanatic like me raves about it.
As, perhaps, the most ultimate science, more human enrollment and investment could lead to greater discovery and discussion. I imagine a world united, where our vast wisdom is compiled on a global level in the spirit of collaboration, yearning for what secrets and interpretations are undiscovered.
Particularly for me, I’ve always found reading on Feynman, Hawking and Brian Greene to give me purpose as a human – as I don’t believe in any god, heaven, or spirits aside from Jim Beam and Jack Daniels.
For this reason and for the advancement of human understanding, I think people should be more interested in modern physics.
Without studying black holes, my life would be one.
William Rein can be reached at [email protected] or @toeshd on Twitter
