Weird World: Salvador Dali IpodsThe last two posts (this one and this one) gave an overview of some weird stuff that science says about the world. But who cares?

Who cares if time slows down when you speed up? Why should you care if you are made of particles or waves (or both)? Why spend time trying to understand it?

This doesn’t just apply to science, but anything you care to think about. Why do it?

  1. It’s interesting – this may be just me, but hopefully by the end of this list you will agree.
  2. It makes you more interesting – the more you know, the broader your range of interests, and the broader the range of areas you are familiar with, the more you are able to talk about.
  3. It’s fun – (Don’t throw anything too heavy at me!) Being challenged, being confused, struggling to understand things…. is fun!
  4. Its good to know stuff – (and have a broad vocabulary with synonyms for ‘stuff’) No-one has ever run out of room in their brain. Use it!
  5. New types of thinking create neural connections in the brain – erm… yeah, something like that. See here and here
  6. It is humbling – It is way too easy to think you’re all that, to think you know a lot. Wrestling with something as hard as relativity prevents you from thinking you know it all. (If you understand it, you are the third person! I’d appreciate it if you could explain it to me :) )Two more – and they are my favourites:

  7. It gives insight into the nature and character of God!
    Why did God do it this way? I don’t know, but it’s good to think about.
    Even better is this: the universe is ordered. We can discover it’s laws. Thats cool. But we can’t understand them – thats even cooler! If even his creation is difficult to wrap your head around, what then of God?
    God is a God who is beyond our comprehension: what we know, we know in part and imperfectly. And it shouldn’t surprise us that this is the case – why wouldn’t the Creator be more complex than the created.
  8. It’s useful for when you want to out-nerd your friends.
    ‘Nuff said, really.

[Aside: this can be applied to stuff you do at school, college, university, and even at work]

Have I sparked your curiosity? Have I missed anything you love about nutting stuff out? Do you disagree? Leave a comment.
Update: Don’t miss Vinchuco’s excellent additions in the comments.

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