nezua:titusandtheraindrops:fuckyeahquantummechanics:Is no one inspired by our present picture of the
nezua:titusandtheraindrops:fuckyeahquantummechanics:Is no one inspired by our present picture of the universe? This value of science remains unsung by singers: you are reduced to hearing not a song or poem, but an evening lecture about it. This is not yet a scientific age.Perhaps one of the reasons for this silence is that you have to know how to read music. For instance, the scientific article may say, ‘The radioactive phosphorus content of the cerebrum of the rat decreases to one- half in a period of two weeks.’ Now what does that mean? It means that phosphorus that is in the brain of a rat—and also in mine, and yours—is not the same phosphorus as it was two weeks ago. It means the atoms that are in the brain are being replaced: the ones that were there before have gone away.So what is this mind of ours: what are these atoms with consciousness? Last week’s potatoes! They now can remember what was going on in my mind a year ago—a mind which has long ago been replaced. To note that the thing I call my individuality is only a pattern or dance, that is what it means when one discovers how long it takes for the atoms of the brain to be replaced by other atoms. The atoms come into my brain, dance a dance, and then go out—there are always new atoms, but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday.-Richard P. FeynmanI enjoy thinking about this with my brand-new atoms.the thing I call my individuality is only a danceI was lucky enough to meet Richard Feynman in my mid-teens. My mom was working in the library at CalTech and brought me to an event to meet the wild physicist, knowing that I’d really enjoyed reading his bestselling book. He was somewhat physically frail at that point, but there was an amazing intellectual energy jumping out of his body which made a permanent impression on me. -- source link