Sunday, June 16, 2019
By:
Help, I have a problem!
Physics has consumed me.
This past week, as I’m sure you’ve heard from the other blogs, our group had a little more fun than usual i.e. we went on a dinner cruise, attended a breathtaking orchestra concert, went to some museums, had a mac-and-cheese cook-off, etc. All these events were a blast, but together they made me realize that I have let physics take over my life to the point where it’s pretty much all I think about. I’m not sure if it’s a bad problem to have, but it’s definitely not one that is relatable to most. Allow me to elaborate so you can understand.
I have always enjoyed music. I have sung most of my life and have had the honor to perform at Lincoln Center in New York City. I taught myself to play piano at age 16. Heck, I have way too many Spotify playlists to count.
I have always enjoyed history. I recently took an American culture course and it was so much fun learning about things in history that they never teach you growing up. I think understanding the past plays a significant role in shaping the future. It’s 100% true that the best way to learn is from others and there are for sure a lot of “others” in the subject of history.
I have always enjoyed cooking. When I was little, I used to love helping out in the kitchen. Learning new recipes and mixing together different ingredients, cooking was like kid-friendly chemistry. The best part, if you messed up, you just ate it and tried again.
The point is I have had many interests in my life and have always been able to find a way to appreciate just about any area of study (you should’ve seen how hard it was for me to pick a college major). The problem is though, that ever since I decided to pursue physics further, I have fallen behind in my studies of other subjects. Participating in all the different events this week made me realize that. During the orchestra I kept telling myself that I should learn more about classical music. During the cook-off I was disappointed that I didn’t have a recipe to add to the competition. While touring the museums, I kept thinking how cool it would be to have a more artistic mindset when interpreting different pieces. I started wondering why can’t I just simply pick up some books, talk to some people, and learn about these things? It seems like a simple fix! I used to do it all the time. Well, physics is the reason why.
You see, whenever I have the opportunity to learn about something other than physics these days, physics comes out of nowhere and draws me back in! I literally cannot stop thinking about the subject! It’s like I eat, sleep, and breathe it. Is that unhealthy?
Let me give you some examples. This past week I finished a book I was reading about particle physics and that’s all I could think about the next few days. I must’ve spent like 30 minutes afterwards trying to find a laptop wallpaper of The Standard Model, but let me tell you, I found one and it’s sick. The other night whilst lying in bed I was deriving kinematic equations in my head…for fun?!?! What a loser, amirite? In school, from working with Greek letters so often, I unknowingly learned the whole Greek alphabet (nerd alert). I’m not sure how I got there, but you could show me a Greek letter right now and not only would I know instantly what it was, but also what physics concepts it is related to. When I graduated in May, I decorated my cap by drawing spacetime fabric on it… I had three calendars in my room last semester, and they were all physics-themed. I could go on, but you get the point. What’s wrong with me? I just don’t get it! Someone could shove Shakespeare in my face, and I’d think it was so exciting for about 10 minutes before I got distracted by physics again.
I guess I’ve just let physics take over me the past 4-5 years. It’s such a huge field with so many different subareas to learn about within it that I’ve just become obsessed with it. My mind doesn’t think it needs the other subjects anymore because it has so much to play with in just this one spot!
Don’t get me wrong, I still love physics and you should too, but I’m just confused how I got to this point. This past week made me see just how “bad” it is, but I guess that’s the first step to fixing the problem. Going forward I’ll try to be more aware and hopefully I can one day get back to seeking knowledge of other subjects. Until then, physics is love, physics is life. Terry Schuh signing off.
Terance Schuh