My current philosophical viewpoint on physics

In a way, nature is so mysterious that things we see and the explanations we give, might not be the true picture at all. How do we know nature’s true properties? Let’s hold this line as it will divert to too much philosophy.

As per Ernst Mach, a scientific theory must be economical, in terms of ideas it uses. Observed values(like splitting of spectral lines) should be connected with mathematical ideas to arrive at conclusions(as tested by experiment). When Schrodinger published his wave mechanics, Heisenberg did the same with his matrix mechanics. The conclusions arrived at were equivalent. Yet, Schrodinger has used continuum/wave ideas whereas Heisenberg has just crunched the numbers. As we can hardly “observe” waves inside an atom, Ernst Mach would have preferred Heisenberg’s theory.

Though Schrodinger and Heisenberg were nice on the surface, they criticised each other in personal letters. Schrodinger wrote to Lorentz that ideas of quantum jumps were “monstrous”. Young Heisenberg wrote Pauli that the continuum ideas looked “bullshit”. When at an after-lecture session, Heisenberg asked Schrodinger how he supposes to explain photoelectric effect and blackbody radiation; Willy Wien treated as if to throw him out. Wien angrily said, “Young man. These effects will be duly explained”.

With the advent of quantum mechanics, physics already entered a far-abstract realm. Old-school physicists tended to side with Schrodinger, as he preserved the semi-classical nature of physics they were trained in. Younger generation physicists(like Pauli, Dirac and Heisenberg) were finally breaking all the old-school ideas. 

Even after decades, the philosophical discussions continue. String theory, Standard Model of particles, cosmology and host of other stuff. Personally, I don’t have the skill-set to follow all these discussions. It feels that the journey has become obscure again.

(inspired by Walter Moore’s biography of Schrodinger)

Generosity

Some people due to their good-naturedness can completely transform a person’s life.

For Enrico Fermi, it was Adolfo Amidei. Amidei was the colleague of Fermi’s father at the railways. He followed science and mathematics, and Fermi came to know about it. The boy - merely thirteen years old - introduced himself by asking a question about projective geometry. Subsequently, Amidei was deeply impressed and decided to guide Fermi's education. He supplied the boy with books - which progressively got advanced over the years. The boy returned the books ceremoniously, digesting all the information.

Amidei also guided Fermi to his college-level education, by selecting the school he should go too. While browsing the entrance exam requirements, Amidei declared that Fermi knew everything already, and he was going to achieve the first position. It was even more dramatic than that.

The entrance exam for Scuola Normale Superiore(at Pisa) had a section on essays. Enrico Fermi’s theme was “Characteristics of Sound” - something that a high school student should know about. Fermi started with a simple introduction and moved to full-blown differential equation of a vibrating rod. Additionally, he solved it using Fourier analysis, finding the eigenvalues and eigenfrequencies. The examiner was so shocked while looking at the essay that he personally decided to meet the student. Fermi was told that he will become a great scientist. Further, the examiner mentioned that his entrance to the school was guaranteed - it was nearly impossible that other students even came close to him. The examiner was right on both accounts - Enrico Fermi went on to do great things.

In a way, Amidei’s generosity to a schoolboy changed the world.

P.S: This post was inspired by Emelio Segre’s biography. Amidei also finds mention in a memoir written by Fermi’s wife, Laura.

Review: Leadership and Self-Deception

Leadership and Self-Deception is a book from Arbinger Institute. As the name suggests, it is targeted towards self-improvement. A personal review follows of the absolutely brilliant book.

Some books are so good that you just thank your fate(free will?) that they came your way.

I knew there was a problem. I commute to office on my bicycle. Bangalore traffic is hellish, and I freely used abuses(or showed finger) while dodging innumerable cars. Again at office, I felt my work was not meeting the mark at all. I wrote poor code and failed deadlines. Back at my apartment, I couldn't focus at all on my private studies(physics, literature, and the piano). At the gym, I continuously cursed the irresponsible people in my head. All these things made my life miserable and I blamed the entire world for my condition. I felt so stressed that it felt like my head will burst with anger and frustration.

Then, I came across this book from Arbinger Institute. The premise was simple - we self-deceive ourselves by viewing other people as objects. We see only ourselves as important. We inflate our own virtues and put the entire blame on other people. Rather than working towards improving the situation, we resort to blame game and showing everyone their own place. The condition has been termed as being "in-the-box".

The book clearly shows how we enter the box. It goes on to explain why we continue to live in the box, make life miserable for us and others. It explains why our colleagues, friends and family members seem so irritating to deal with. The negative effects are all together familiar - our relations along with our productivity goes down.

Finally, the book specifies a way to get out of the box. The way out is simple - instead of focusing on ourselves, we focus on others and treat them as people. Further, it is also explains how to stay out of the box. 

This book is highly recommended for everyone. Simply written and concise in its explanations. It will help you being a better manager, partner, husband, friend - you name it. If you feel that this book really helped you, pass it to your close ones.

Next book to read - The Anatomy of Peace.

On learning Physics

"Physics is becoming so unbelievably complex that it is taking longer and longer to train a physicist. It is taking so long, in fact, to train a physicist to the place where he understands the nature of physical problems that he is already too old to solve them.”
— Eugene Paul Wigner

You want to understand the workings of the world, but you lack the skill-set as well as the mental maturity to ask and pursue questions. Maths was always hard for you and you hated yourself for that. Increasingly, physics also turned mathematical where you couldn't even hope to use your intuition. You realise that there’s no other way other than to use up decades of your life. There will be even more physics as you grow older but you have to do your best now. All you can hope is that the future will reward you with some glimpses of truth.

For instance, take the way Feynman concluded his lecture on resonance(Feynman lectures - Vol. I). He wanted to share the examples of oscillations in nature. But instead of giving usual (random) examples from a textbook, he talked about going to his study and pulling out books from the shelves. He tried to find if there are graphs depicting resonance. Lo, behold! There are. How our atmosphere oscillates due to Moon’s gravitational pull. How sound from Krakatoa volcanic eruption oscillated the entire atmosphere. How common salt crystals vibrate due to infrared radiation. How protons of different energies yield different amounts of gamma radiation on hitting an atomic nucleus. There were also examples regarding paramagnetic materials and subatomic particle reactions(which I didn’t understand). Feynman also mentioned that it is not hard to find an example of resonance in every single version of Physical Review Letters.

Let’s revisit the context. All those examples were from arbitrary books, concerning a wide range of matters. Going a bit further, it is quite easy to deduce that some people actually thought about those things. They then proceeded to examine those processes as well.

Well, the next question simply is  - how to reach that level of thinking? There’s no way other than to study hard and read widely. Understanding experiments and the motivation behind them. And, following how those questions came to be asked in the first place(aka history).

Schools and colleges fail to address the above by focussing on results and deadlines. It becomes necessary then to unlearn the way you were moulded by years of academia. You have to become original and follow learning in the way it should be done - follow questions as they come to you. Those questions will lead to even more questions, and you will learn in the way. More importantly, you will begin to have fun.

That’s my two cents for now. As I am young and fairly ignorant, please feel free to add comments/suggestions. If you want to talk to me about what I wrote, please do connect on private channels.

On bullshit(with the naive life-sketch of a reformer)

Bullshit and its disgusting effects on the society can be easily understood, if one refers to the story of Rammohan Banerjee(I will drop the “Raja” and “Roy” titles). I want to emphasise on his stance against Sati-Pratha and how he pressurised the colonial government to abolish it.

Imagine that era of Bengal. Orthodox Hindus who venerated Brahmins and whatever they told. Evils of casteism, which penetrated every aspect of society. Yet one act - the burning of widows, shows the nadir of everything that was wrong with society. I will get back to it.

As per Pauranic stories - Shiva’s wife, Sati self-immolated herself. She couldn’t take repeated insults of her husband from her father. Shiva was extremely enraged at the act and killed his father-in-law. That’s the essence of the story. If you’re a normal person, you will think of it as just another story and forget about it.

But religion is altogether a different game. It is so creepy and insidious that if you’re not vigilant, it can do things to you. I don’t know at what point of time, the above story took the form of a tradition. A woman becomes a widow. Most probably a young widow, because of child-marriage. Then, she is tied to the funeral pyre of her husband. The pyre is ignited. And people watch her die in agony and screams.

Now, this tradition might be going for a thousand years when Rammohan came about. And, no one even did a thing about it! They just considered it as a law of society and moved on with their lives.

Rammohan had an eye for bullshit. He recognised that this is evil and shouldn’t continue. So, he used the Britishers to enact a law banning the tradition. Did he face any problem? Of course. Opposition from his parents(who were Brahmins) and even attacks on his life. But, Rammohan was not a coward. He pressed on and finally got the law passed.

Rammohan was against idol-worship(probably due to influences of Abrahamic religions like Islam and Christianity). So, he started Brahmo Samaj. I think, he must have thought about atheism but couldn’t reject all the religious influences on him. Therefore, he opened the society anyway.

                                                                     (Portrait Credit: Wikipedia)

So even Rammohan was not untouched by bullshit. He still chose a God, though he had no evidences for one. I guess, we shouldn’t blame him that much. He is still a hero. He did a lot of good by his acts of defiance. How many of us have done a good thing in our lives?

So, what do we learn from this story? We learn that bullshit should be crushed whenever detected. Bullshit is against progress and has lots of horrifying consequences. Even worse, you may not even realise that you’re in deep shit. To put it politely.

For a more descriptive and well-written take on bullshit, one should check out Carl Sagan’s The Fine Art of Baloney Detection. One can even register for an awesome course here(by University of Washington).

As a final note, try to become another Rammohan. Piss off people who spread and indulge in bullshit. Demand evidence for everything you hear and think. Even if you lead a hard life, know that your contributions will make the world a better place.

All hail Objectivity!

Got a portable grand piano!

Brace electronics. Technology lets you have a grand piano on your lap.

Few days ago, I bought a Yamaha PSR-E353 keyboard.

With a half decade of ups and downs with Indian classical music, followed by another gap of around seven years - I have returned back to this instrument. And this time, I am going to start with western styles.

I am currently trying to learn music theory from this course. Everyday, I try to play the keyboard as well. Hopefully, I will get a decent stand in a few years.

Hobbies or Obsession? - A personal experience

This article calls for some reflection.

One of my family members told me that though I have grown, I am still the same boy - one who is going for the next fun thing instead of doing some actual work. And one who is too stubborn to accept that he is wrong.

Though, my tryst with powerlifting was short - I am going to leave it. Bench presses have caused wrist pain, shoulder pain and unidentified pains throughout my arm(with headaches). Squats have caused pain in my lumbar spinal area and knees. Perhaps, overhead presses have done things to my hips that I don’t know.

I have trained for running(a marathon?) - which caused me to fall unconscious and get four head-stitches. Thank goodness, I didn’t break my neck. It seems that physical exertion on that level is not for me.

Post high-school, I have read many things. Books, articles, Quora, online texts and who knows what. Though I have learnt laughably little, I have lost the ability to sleep or gain any pleasure from it. I am always thinking about something - feeling helpless most of the time, as a human can’t solve everything. I am going to cut back on my reading “load”.

Half a decade ago, a girl told me that I am an obsessive person. I kind of ignored her, took her judgement as an insult and tried to push myself even harder. I think she was right all along.

What caused me to push myself so strongly even when I was hurting myself all along? What caused those fun things to become an obsession and then an addiction? I don’t know.

I have to re-think my life(ta-dah!). I will try to regain normal behaviour as expected from humans. I am going to enjoy things judicially and sit back when it hurts.

I am not going to make myself miserable anymore. Muscles, stamina and knowledge are great, but a good life is much better.

The Crescent Moon

Below are some excerpts from “The Crescent Moon” by Rabindranath Thakur. The content is arranged under sections. The list may grow if I get time.

Rabindranath is just like his name. His light dazzles you. But gathering up your courage - you still try to study and understand him.

1. The Champa Flower

SUPPOSING I became a champa flower, just for fun, and grew on a branch high up that tree, and shook in the wind with laughter and danced upon the newly budded leaves, would you know me, mother?

You would call, "Baby, where are you?" and I should laugh to myself and keep quite quiet.

I should slyly open my petals and watch you at your work.

When after your bath, with wet hair spread on your shoulders, you walked through the shadow of the champa tree to the little court where you say your prayers, you would notice the scent of the flower, but not know that it came from me.

When after the midday meal you sat at the window reading Ramayana, and the tree's shadow fell over your hair and your lap, I should fling my wee little shadow on to the page of your book, just where you were reading.

But would you guess that it was the tiny shadow of your little child?

When in the evening you went to the cow-shed with the lighted lamp in your hand, I should suddenly drop on to the earth again and be your own baby once more, and beg you to tell me a story.

"Where have you been, you naughty child?"

"I won't tell you, mother." That's what you and I would say then.


2. On The Seashore

ON the seashore of endless worlds children meet.

The infinite sky is motionless overhead and the restless water is boisterous. On the seashore of endless worlds the children meet with shouts and dances.

They build their houses with sand, and they play with empty shells. With withered leaves they weave their boats and smilingly float them on the vast deep. Children have their play on the seashore of worlds.

They know not how to swim, they know not how to cast nets. Pearl-fishers dive for pearls, merchants sail in their ships, while children gather pebbles and scatter them again. They seek not for hidden treasures, they know not how to cast nets.

The sea surges up with laughter, and pale gleams the smile of the sea-beach. Death-dealing waves sing meaningless ballads to the children, even like a mother while rocking her baby's cradle. The sea plays with children, and pale gleams the smile of the sea-beach.

On the seashore of endless worlds children meet. Tempest roams in the pathless sky, ships are wrecked in the trackless water, death is abroad and children play. On the seashore of endless worlds is the great meeting of children.


3. Baby's World

I WISH I could take a quiet corner in the heart of my baby's very own world.

I know it has stars that talk to him, and a sky that stoops down to his face to amuse him with its silly clouds and rainbows.

Those who make believe to be dumb, and look as if they never could move, come creeping to his window with their stories and with trays crowded with bright toys.

I wish I could travel by the road that crosses baby's mind, and out beyond all bounds;
Where messengers run errands for no cause between the kingdoms of kings of no history;

Where Reason makes kites of her laws and flies them, and Truth sets Fact free from its fetters.


4. Defamation

WHY are those tears in your eyes, my child?

How horrid of them to be always scolding you for nothing?

You have stained your fingers and face with ink while writing--is that why they call you dirty?

O, fie! Would they dare to call the full moon dirty because it has smudged its face with ink?

For every little trifle they blame you, my child. They are ready to find fault for nothing.

You tore your clothes while playing--is that why they call you untidy?

O, fie! What would they call an autumn morning that smiles through its ragged clouds?

Take no heed of what they say to you, my child.

Take no heed of what they say to you, my child.

They make a long list of your misdeeds. Everybody knows how you love sweet things--is that why they call you greedy?

O, fie! What then would they call us who love you?