We think too much, and feel too little

Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that’s not why we do it.

- Richard Feynman

Lo scorso anno, facendo due conti sul calendario, ho fatto 612 ore di lezione, dai primi di Aprile al 19 Dicembre. Non credo sia alla fine dei conti poi cosi’ tanto, ma neanche tanto poco.

Ho avuto modo di conoscere tante persone, che mi hanno dato veramente tanto. Adoro vivere l’aula. Grazie!

Successe varie cose in questi giorni. Tralascio i dettagli ospedalieri, che so che qualcuno e’ sensibile. Parlero’ poi’ di certi dettagli legati all’igiene.

Rientrato a casa, deambulo con le stampelle. Poco male, riesco a spostarmi tra letto, divano e frigorifero. Leggo il diario di Chris Toshok e non so cosa pensare. Poi leggo una interessante versione dell’Indipendent/UK del report annuale sullo Stato Dell’Unione redatto dal Presidente (sotto dettatura, credo) degli Stati Uniti. Sto ancora cercando la versione originale, non riesco ad accedere al sito della Casa Bianca. Non so perche’, scrivendo questo mi viene in mente lo scherzo che pensavo di fare quando visitavo il GSFC, cioe’ quello di chiamare il pizza-taxi, ordinare la peggio merda e mandarla al 1600 di Pennsylvania Av. … boh, strane cose.

Rivisto Eyes Wide Shut in DVD (in vena di porcate antidepressive mi sono comprato il cofanetto dell’opera omnia di Kubrick). Devo dire che il doppiaggio italiano non e’ malvagio, anche se, purtroppo, come al solito, non ha paragoni con la lingua originale.

Ripensavo poi oggi alla discussione avuta in tarda serata in ufficio, dove davo di bastardi ai miei soci.. perche’? beh’.. hanno saputo che mi dovevo depilare l’inguine per la mia visita in ospedale. E, stranamente, non hanno commentato. Strano, davvero, non perdono occasione. Ma non hanno perso tempo. Poco tempo dopo ricevo un simpatico messaggio email, con Subject: non essere triste.

Cosa conteneva quel messaggio? soltanto un link, uno solo. A cosa chiederete voi… a questo. Mi sento molto fortunato a lavorare con persone cosi’, devo essere sincero. Grazie. Bastardi!

The theoretical broadening which comes from having many humanities subjects on the campus is offset by the general dopiness of the people who study these things…

— Richard P. Feynman

I think I’ve got the right idea, to do crazy things — what other people would consider crazy things. There’s so much fun to be had.

When the scientist tells you he does not know the answer, he is an ignorant man. When he tells you he has a hunch about how it is going to work, he is uncertain about it. When he is pretty sure of how it is going to work, and he tells you, “This is the way it is going to work, I’ll bet,” he still is in some doubt. And it is of paramount importance, in order to make progress, that we recognize this ignorance and this doubt. Because we have the doubt, we then propose looking in new directions for new ideas. The rate of the development of science is not the rate at which you make observations alone but, much more important, the rate at which you create new things to test.

If we were not able or did not desire to look in any new direction, if we did not have a doubt or recognize ignorance, we would not get any new ideas. There would be nothing worth checking, because we would know what is true. So what we call scientific knowledge today is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty. Some of them are most unsure; some of them are nearly sure; but none is absolutely certain. Scientists are used to this. We know that it is consistent to be able to live and not know. Some people say, “How can you live without knowing?” I do not know what they mean. I always live without knowing. That is easy. How you get to know is what I want to know.

This freedom of doubt is an important matter in the sciences and, I believe, in other fields. It was born of a struggle. It was a struggle to be permitted to doubt, to be unsure. And I do not want us to forget the importance of the struggle and, by default, to let the thing fall away. I feel a responsibility as a scientist who knows the great value of a satisfactory philosophy of ignorance, and the progress made possible by such a philosophy, progress which is the fruit of freedom of thought. I feel a responsibility to proclaim the value of this freedom and to teach that doubt is not to be feared, but that it is to be welcomed as the possibility of a new potential for human beings. If you know that you are not sure, you have a chance to improve the situation. I want to demand this freedom for future generations.”

- Richard Feynman

You are Anarcho-Capitalist

What: Anarcho-Capitalism

Where: At the distant top-right of the politcal spectrum

How: Anarcho-Capitalists believe that big business should take over goverment to the point of government not existing. While they believe there should be law, they also believe that the law should be owned by businesses. Anarcho-capitalism is a modern belief and has never been attempted.

What political extremity are you?

Breathe, breathe in the air.
Don’t be afraid to care.
Leave but don’t leave me.
Look around and choose your own ground.

Long you live and high you fly
And smiles you’ll give and tears you’ll cry
And all you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be.

Run, rabbit run.
Dig that hole, forget the sun,
And when at last the work is done
Don’t sit down it’s time to dig another one.

For long you live and high you fly
But only if you ride the tide
And balanced on the biggest wave
You race towards an early
grave.