24 July 2020
Hello Folks,
Back in 2006, I attended a series of lectures at the Sorbonne given by the noted Stanford University mathematician David Wigner, PhD, who during his after lecture question and answer period, graciously gave his time explaining the intricacies of the mathematical models he was presenting—though the one question he answered that has anchored itself in my mind ever since was when a young woman asked him what books had the most influence on him, and why—a question Dr. Wigner quickly answered by saying that the two most influential books in his life were The Bible and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland—both of which he said his father made him read, because, his father said, if you understood them both, you could understand everything.
This seemingly surprising answer becomes more understandable when knowing that Dr. Wigner’s father was Eugene Wigner—the Hungarian-American theoretical physicist and mathematician who, in 1963, received the Nobel Prize for his contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles-- participated in a meeting with fellow physicists Leo Szilard and Albert Einstein that resulted in the Einstein-Szilard Letter, which prompted President Franklin D. Roosevelt to initiate the Manhattan Project to develop atomic bombs—famously refused to have his fingerprints taken because they could be used to track him down if Germany won World War II, with his later in life recalling “Thoughts of being murdered focus your mind wonderfully”—about physics once remarked that “it has given us the ability for a deeper understanding of nature, this leading to a more carefree life both materially and also spiritually”—and pertinent to our discussion today, in 1961 outlined a thought experiment that demonstrated one of the lesser-known paradoxes of quantum mechanics that there’s no such thing as objective reality—that in 2018 was scientifically proven to be true.
WHAT?????? lol
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index3282pl.htm
Realist - Everybody in America is soft, and hates conflict. The cure for this, both in politics and social life, is the same -- hardihood. Give them raw truth.
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