From the moment we all enter this life kicking and screaming and covered in slime we are constantly learning and discovering new things. Usually the first thing we pick up on is “Hey, it's OK to breath” or “So THIS is where I've been all this time”. It's a bit touch and go from then on but sooner or later we'll have someone explain to us the basics of our three most respected branches of science: physics, biology and chemistry. Most of this basic understanding of what we're made of is passively assimilated and we continue our lives accepting these as little more then trivia. Not nearly enough of us really appreciate the enormity of this knowledge. When we're first told that if you go close enough we all look like bundles of differently charged balls of matter we might struggle with it for a while but eventually come to accept it as a fact and move on with our life. After all, who really cares about what our corn flakes are made out of. We're just going to eat the damn things and go buy a new pair of pants at the mall. You can go pretty far in life not knowing the difference between a proton and a neutron.
It's amazing, then, when a real evolution in the science occurs. Sure we all know what protons and neutrons are, but they're NOT the smallest division of matter we've discovered. Both of those can be broken down AGAIN into even smaller particles called quarks and gluons. We stand now at the precipice of another watershed moment in the development of science. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) went online today marking the next step in solving the mysteries of the universe from the Big Bang to String Theory. First of all, the LHC is a HUGE step forward in human ability and ambition. The complex is designed to accelerate particles to ridiculously high speeds (99.999999% of the speed of light) and then to drive them into each other. Like any collision, once particles collide they explode into their component parts. Analyzing these collisions at these speeds is really hard. I don't want to think about how smart you have to be to figure out how to even interpret the data but people are optimistic that the data will be able to shed light on physics problems such as dark matter, string theory, the big bang and the Grand Unification Theory of Physics.
At this point is becomes clear exactly just how far science has evolved beyond the comprehension of the average person. I know few enough people who have even heard of String Theory or the Grand Unification Theory, let alone understand them to a degree where they're meaningful. For a long time I've held the belief that it's important to at least be aware of the most recent developments in the core issues of the sciences but we've hit a point where these issues are so far beyond the understanding and utility of the average person that to fully appreciate the strides that are being taken you need several years of education. Take Brane Theory, for example. I can't even begin to describe it in a way that will make sense to anyone, including myself but it's kind of a mash-up alternate universes and big-bang theory and flat out wackyness (our universe was created by the big-bang which was the result of two alternate dimensions colliding with each-other). The LHC has the potential to further remove science from the understanding of the layman. Quarks and Gluons don't seem to turn up as anything but trivia for nerds; like telling people that the NES was really a North American adaption of a much more versatile system known as the Family Computer (Famicom) in Japan. Sure it's true and mildly informative but in the end you'll never experience it for yourself so will you really care?
Enough about this physics shit then. I've got some requests and recommendations. First of all I'm going to push a podcast. GFW Radio (on the 1-Up network. Available on iTunes) is pretty much the best podcast I've got going right now. It's smart, it's funny and spends suprisingly little time actually talking about games. That brings me to my next point. A few weeks ago they were talking comics and I heard of a fascination comic artist/writer called Joe Sacco. He's a professional journalist but instead of publishing his stories on the news wire he draws comics. He has two books out now called Palestine and Safe Area Goražde which are based on his experience covering these areas. They sound like something I would fall in love with. I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience with these novels.
Until next time,
keep your head in the clouds.
