Physics--Week 2

My reflection on Uncertainty

We need to accept uncertainty as part of life. Even within certainty, there is uncertainty. For example, we will all die one day, that's a certainty. But when and how, that's an uncertainty. As long as we can accept uncertainty as part of life, we will then less obsessed about trying to figure out how exactly will things turn out, or how our decisions will impact our future.

It can indeed turn into a neurosis if someone uses "uncertainty" as an excuse in life to shy away from any commitments, because, well, "who knows what will happen in the future anyway"

I think it is important to just stay present. Not that I do that all the time :-)



On Causality
Causality seems to only matter when time really is linear. i.e. our action in the past affected our situation at present, and our action now affect our situation in the future. However, if time doesn't progress in a linear manner, and the line drawn between past and future gets blurry, can we be so sure then what is the cause and what is effect?



Is the Universe Weird?

The universe has its own funny ways of working. I hope I can enjoy the mystery instead of always trying to figure it all out.

Physics East & West (Week1)

What attracts me to Chinese Medicine

More than just a way of disease fighting system, Chinese Medicine stems from a cosmology that draws connections of the human health to environmental qi, diet, lifestyle. It is a way of life.

What do I think of Physics, really?

Ever since I learned about quantum physics, superstring theory etc, I have been fascinated about it. I recommend the movie: The Elegant Universe. Also, the book I mentioned in class is Holographic Universe. Great book. It shifted my worldview completely. The world seems less solid, concrete, but at the same time, much more interesting. I am particularly interested in the similarities betwwen Ancient Eastern Philosophies and Modern Physics.

Experience of time "slowing Down" or "speeding up":
Yes! In addition to motion-sick experience I talked about in class, I also think about how someone told me when I was a teenager that "A child thinks that one day is short and one year is long. An adult thinks that one day is long and one year is short." At one point in my adult life (primarily when I was working full-time in a job I didn't like), I understood what it means. That was a good motivation for me to change career. :-)