So far, today has been a very eclectic day. I have received my flight schedule from UT Austin. I leave Friday morning and come back on Sunday evening (Feb18-20). I can't wait to see the campus everybody is raving about, and more importantly to meet the chemistry professors and see what they have to offer.
Today I have also received the confirmation of being offered one of the Honors College research grant. Finally.!!!! It comes with $1200 for me and $1000 for Dr. Pulay. It's a little weird because Dr. Pulay requested $0 and expressely told me not to put anything down for him. I was getting worried that I wouldn't have enough money to subsist this semester with all the travelling I am supposed to do, but in the end it looks like it all turned out well.
The discussion in the Quantum Chemistry colloquium was very upsetting for me today . I guess that I am a little skeptical and not yet convinced that pure information can influence a system. Information is not immaterial, like we defined in class. When he hear something, the sound waves interact with our ear membranes, which create neurological impulses that are passed down chemically to the brain, usw. The same thing happens with any other senses, so we cannot obtain information in any other way but through physical interaction. The thinking process itself exists within our brain, so it's embedded in the physical world. We talked about information affecting the outcome of an experiment, but what should be said is that our attempt to get the information perturbs the system and changes the outcome of the experiment. The Heisenberg principle is very clear. I don't know why we have to make it more complicated than it is. Anywhoo, it's the kind of philosophical clash that doesn't produce anything useful but mind exercise and enjoyment for the winner.
In the math seminar we discussed a paper by Halmos about what Mathematics really is. Especially here in the US, regular but rather educated people put a big equal sign between high school remedial algebra and mathematics. It's like equating turkey carving with being a surgeon. Halmos splits up math in Mathology and Mathophysics and argues that the first is done for no immediate purpose. It's one of the two original academic endeavors and it's done just for the fun of Mathologists themselves, just like Philosophy. His main point is that Mathematicians are some of the most creative people and Math is actually a creative art. Or black voodoo magic if you want, as one of my favorite teachers said. Next time you see some mathematician, please don't think of adding numbers, x's, y's, log's or square roots. It's an insult. Think of somebody who can think in a very different and hard to pick up language. Think of somebody who is very rigorous and creative in what he's doing. Most of the scientists use Mathematician as an insult anyway, so don't insult them again, pphhlease.
1 comment:
It is kind of unfortunate that there is such a bad stigma hanging over mathematics/mathematicians. Sometimes we are under appreciated, but I think this under appreciation comes mostly from the uneducated. And shame on those who are educated and take for granted the conveniences of every day life, which were made possible, largely due to mathematicians/engineers/etc. I think I speak for all mathematicians when I say thanks for defending what we are all about.
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