January 17, 2012
But What About Quantum Leap?
This quote is amazing because Richard P. Feynman is a deceased god of science. A wizard! A master! A world-renowned expert! If he doesn’t understand the field he was the de facto king of, what chance do any of us have of understanding our world? The Six Easy Pieces: Not so easy after all?
We’re all wrong and misinformed of thousands of things, and yet, we manage to survive. Isn’t that marvelously comforting? I like the idea of a vast pool of knowledge beyond our current grasp. It keeps things interesting. It makes us wonder about everything. It keeps us humble. It keeps us curious.
It’s why we play with all these ideas in science fiction. We all want a Mr. Fusion mounted onto a DeLorean and we all hope that somehow, Scott Bakula is going back in time and undoing our mistakes. And why not? After all, those things might really be possible, someday, if we keep figuring our this crazy universe of ours.
(c) Jessica Hagy, 2012
January 12, 2012
How the Ubermensch Got Into Harvard
It’s easy to feel bad when life kicks you in the shins. It’s easy to think it’s all your fault that your days are dark, cold, lonely, crummy and plagued with tedium. It’s also just as easy to think that on lovely days when everything is right with your world, that you somehow earned your comfort and prestige and that cool refreshing drink you’re sipping on your sun-dappled veranda.
But both outlooks are wrong. Chance plays a huge part in everything from who our parents are to how many zeros are printed on our pay stubs. No matter what, it’s never entirely your fault—or anyone else’s.
(c) Jessica Hagy, 2012
December 29, 2011
