There is very little about physics that I could tell you that is not already pretty commonly known, but during the past year I have been creative for AAPT (American Association for Physics Teachers) and have acquired a new lease on life regarding the physical world.
The result of my exposure to popular news items, or academic topicalities and even a few major player physicists, is an invigorated curiosity. It is, however a curiosity that I do not share with enough of the general population. Physics is the science of everything and it is mostly feared as a science of the weird, nerdy, AP student "genius", that is unattainable to the masses. High school students very often are required to take biology and/or chemistry to complete their studies and physics remains an AP second thought at best with elitist pompousness written all over it. Physics First is a curriculum that has students learn physics before chemistry and biology. Students learn about the scientific process and explore real-world phenomena such as photosynthesis and gravity before going on to the often physics dependent chemistry and earth sciences. This reform of the existing science curriculum could help to shed the stigma of the physics student and cause physics to be less intimidating.
As I have found, physics can often be a complex science filled with things from the macro to the micro scale, comparisons of space and time, quantum mechanics, nanotechnologies and with subjects continuing quite literally to infinity. But, basic physics fundamentals are typically easy to teach and learn and prove to be beneficial to the learning of the other sciences.
I wish I had been exposed to physics first in high school. I feigned an enjoyment of earth science and biology and then barely made it through chemistry preparing me for a science free college experience. I settled on art and even though it has been a somewhat rewarding career, I now regret my lack of science education. As I proceed to educate myself with Stephen Hawking, Einstein made simple books and wikipedia posts I still remain intimidated by the ever present equations and computations that accompany any and all significant physics literature. I guess that calculus class proved to be for naught. Just another obstacle on the way to achieving greater knowledge, a goal I wish the rest of us could grab a hold of. Maybe our desire for spirtuality, fame, fortune or NASCAR bellies is too difficult an obstacle for us to tackle in a lifetime.
So, "physics first" before it simply remains physics last.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Why The War Don't Scare Me
Things happen.
Things happen all the time.
Things happen as a result of anger, fear, hatred, love, concern, grief, stupidity, wisdom, knowledge, nature and I think the list goes on.
By things, I mean mostly horrible things. A VA Tech rampage, a 9/11, a Pearl Harbor. Shockingly horrible things happen all the time for many different reasons. In fact they seem to space themselves out nicely as if to remind us every so often that they do happen. Every approximately 5-50 years another shockingly horrible thing happens. The more severe, the more time in between. As a result of a real lack of research and my being a stereotypical American I am going to use only American examples. 50+ years between Pearl Harbor and 9/11 (I think you will see the similarity). 35-45 years between the Vietman War and the Iraqi (middle eastern)Wars. 5-10 years between Columbine and VA Tech. 1-2 years between the Indian Ocean Tsunami (okay not really American) and hurricane Katrina. A few hours to a day or so between car bombings, suicidal or otherwise (again not really American).
I offer no solution or place blame, I just want to point out that these things happen and will continue to happen out of no fault of our own.
The most obvious example is the natural disasters. The Tsunami and Katrina are most out of our control and give us a good starting point for proving my point. The Tsunami is quite out-of-our-control as we cannot assume to solve the problem of plate tectonics. Hurricane strength is recently said to be as a result of the global warming trend, however I think we will find that even though human responsibility for this is evident, nature is more in control than we assume.
The human element enters mostly in the event of war. The recent history of the United States, almost a century's worth, lays claim to about 10 wars at varying degrees, about 1 every 10 years. Causes for these wars have ranged from idealistically and politically charged to devistatingly instigated. Yet they are always govermentally or nationally and idealistically executed. The individual has no real choice or effect. Individuals are merely tools used to either support or oppose wars like varying degrees of moisture surrounding a hurricane. Opposing spiritual or political ideals are a natural albeit human occurence. Whether it is a nationalisitically charged holocaust or a capitalistic "freedom" campaign or an islamic jihad, it is out-of-our-control. Whether we correct them or take the path of moral rectitude is merely a result.
Columbine and VA Tech represent the very human element. This element is where the individual becomes most involved. As the motivation turns to mental stability vs. societal implications, two seemingly controllable aspects, the solution remains society's control over the individual. Again, another lost cause for what happens as a result of anger, fear, hatred, love, concern, grief, stupidity, wisdom, knowledge, nature, etc... We are just as out-of-control of what happens inside as we are of what happens globally. And by out-of-control, I don't mean that we should give up and not try to fight global warming or not offer therapy to a tortured soul. I just mean that these things are going to happen whether or not we make laws controlling guns or drugs or strengthen our levies or boost our warning level status.
So, fear not! The odds of an individual being directly effected by things-that-happen is in direct relation to the proximity of that individual to those things. If you are a soldier in Iraq you might want to be on your guard. If you work in a building that houses information about global economic trade you might want to be very familiar with the fire exit strategy. And now, yes, if you live on a college campus you might want to carry a gun or at least be friendly to the weird guy.
I feel lucky, however, because the war don't scare me. I live in one of the safest countries in the world. A country in which a very small percentage of people die as a result of horrible-things-that-happen compared to the rest of the world. And even though I am not sure why that is, I feel lucky.
Things happen all the time.
Things happen as a result of anger, fear, hatred, love, concern, grief, stupidity, wisdom, knowledge, nature and I think the list goes on.
By things, I mean mostly horrible things. A VA Tech rampage, a 9/11, a Pearl Harbor. Shockingly horrible things happen all the time for many different reasons. In fact they seem to space themselves out nicely as if to remind us every so often that they do happen. Every approximately 5-50 years another shockingly horrible thing happens. The more severe, the more time in between. As a result of a real lack of research and my being a stereotypical American I am going to use only American examples. 50+ years between Pearl Harbor and 9/11 (I think you will see the similarity). 35-45 years between the Vietman War and the Iraqi (middle eastern)Wars. 5-10 years between Columbine and VA Tech. 1-2 years between the Indian Ocean Tsunami (okay not really American) and hurricane Katrina. A few hours to a day or so between car bombings, suicidal or otherwise (again not really American).
I offer no solution or place blame, I just want to point out that these things happen and will continue to happen out of no fault of our own.
The most obvious example is the natural disasters. The Tsunami and Katrina are most out of our control and give us a good starting point for proving my point. The Tsunami is quite out-of-our-control as we cannot assume to solve the problem of plate tectonics. Hurricane strength is recently said to be as a result of the global warming trend, however I think we will find that even though human responsibility for this is evident, nature is more in control than we assume.
The human element enters mostly in the event of war. The recent history of the United States, almost a century's worth, lays claim to about 10 wars at varying degrees, about 1 every 10 years. Causes for these wars have ranged from idealistically and politically charged to devistatingly instigated. Yet they are always govermentally or nationally and idealistically executed. The individual has no real choice or effect. Individuals are merely tools used to either support or oppose wars like varying degrees of moisture surrounding a hurricane. Opposing spiritual or political ideals are a natural albeit human occurence. Whether it is a nationalisitically charged holocaust or a capitalistic "freedom" campaign or an islamic jihad, it is out-of-our-control. Whether we correct them or take the path of moral rectitude is merely a result.
Columbine and VA Tech represent the very human element. This element is where the individual becomes most involved. As the motivation turns to mental stability vs. societal implications, two seemingly controllable aspects, the solution remains society's control over the individual. Again, another lost cause for what happens as a result of anger, fear, hatred, love, concern, grief, stupidity, wisdom, knowledge, nature, etc... We are just as out-of-control of what happens inside as we are of what happens globally. And by out-of-control, I don't mean that we should give up and not try to fight global warming or not offer therapy to a tortured soul. I just mean that these things are going to happen whether or not we make laws controlling guns or drugs or strengthen our levies or boost our warning level status.
So, fear not! The odds of an individual being directly effected by things-that-happen is in direct relation to the proximity of that individual to those things. If you are a soldier in Iraq you might want to be on your guard. If you work in a building that houses information about global economic trade you might want to be very familiar with the fire exit strategy. And now, yes, if you live on a college campus you might want to carry a gun or at least be friendly to the weird guy.
I feel lucky, however, because the war don't scare me. I live in one of the safest countries in the world. A country in which a very small percentage of people die as a result of horrible-things-that-happen compared to the rest of the world. And even though I am not sure why that is, I feel lucky.
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