- ...Physics.
- We will usually refer to the formal
discipline and body of knowledge with a capital letter (Physics, a
proper noun). Explicit rules about nature make up Physics. The more
general practice and its surrounding culture we denote as physics. In
this we intend more than just the rules about nature, and include also
methoda and attitudes. These are very much a part of the field, but
because they are essentially observations about people, we do
not understand them nearly as well as the rules contained in Physics
proper.
- ...do.
- Of course, this is why
engineering is possible at all. After all, if we invented simply by
combining pieces and parts at random, we would be no more likely to
build something useful than the hoard of typing monkeys would be to
produce Shakespeare. The ability to engineer is the ability to decide
ahead of time what you want to happen, and then predict, before you
try it, how you can combine parts of nature do do just that. Of
course, it only works if the predictions are right.
- ...canons.
- The words canon, cannon
and canyon all have the same spanish progenitor. It means a conduit
or pipe, through which something flows or is guided. A river flows
between the walls of a canyon, a ball is guided by the barrel of a
cannon, and sacred wisdom is transmitted through generations in the
words of a canon.
- ...know.
- nota bene etymology of the word ``truth'', as that which can be trusted.
- ...way.
- One could go so far as to say that this is implicit
when we refer to it as ``one thing''.
- ...other.
- The elevation of this awareness into the center of a
whole world view may be seen, for instance, in the Tao te
Ching.
- ...it?
- I could comment here on how certain government people
long for those good old days, and cling to a language that functions
best amid such ambiguity. If nothing can ever be proven ``right'', at
least nothing can ever be proven ``wrong'' either, and one escapes
responsibility. But I won't. It is, however, a relevant point,
because it bears on the impact that physics, in particular, has had on
our expectations for honesty and integrity in our communications, and
even in our thoughts.
- ...fails.
- In fact, when
Einstein created his General Relativity as the replacement for
Newton's description of Gravity, no such thing had ever been
found. He created his new model for quite different reasons, and had
to wait more than 20 years for the experiments to show decisively that
his rules were correct.
- ...answers.
- Indeed, one could notice that ``philosophy'' itself
is an abstraction, referring to lessons so useful that they affect
many aspects of life. Thus, unless we have shown how a philosophical
position can change the prospects for day-to-day living, we have no
reason to think it has any meaning at all! (One imagines that
Socrates might have approved of such a conclusion, while mere decades
later
)
- ...tree.
- Actually, there would also be loops, because
descriptions can parallel each other, on the way from a question to an
answer, even though neither one contains the other. The important
similarity of hierarchy remains, though, especially in the modern
understanding.
- ...prevailed.
- This, of course, refers to events
like the Catholic Church's denunciation of Galilleo's claims, which
have finally been recinded, or the proclamation in early Soviet Russia
that Einstein's relativity was ``wrong''. The value and inevitability
of a correct idea are very powerful forces, because they can affect
so many people's lives directly.
- ...use.
- A deservedly respected
theoretical physicist (A. Strominger) once encapsulted this
elegantly in a luchtime discussion, with the statement ``We used
to think it was important to know what we were talking about.
But now we don't worry about that, because we have something
much better. We can calculate.'' Such a statement, while when
taken in context is representative of most of the physics
community today, is something that only recently is admitted
unapologetically, and still a source of great discomfort to many
physicists, probably more mathematicians, and certainy almost
all students. Because, you see, the great virtue of knowing
what you are talking about is that it makes it possible to do a
much better job of telling it to someone else.
- ...happen.
- Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the actual path, I
will fear no change in action.