From the Archives V - Camping

 Written in 2015.

Every year Dina , the kids and myself embark on our long weekend camping venture. This past weekend represented this year’s instalment. Not being the greatest outdoorsman camping challenges me on many different levels. It is not so much the pure vacation aspect but the feat of moving outside my zone of comfort that I most appreciate. Watching the kids have fun (and they always do) is even more of a reward. Our site this year was the Bon Echo Park (located off Highway Seven going east from Toronto toward Kingston). Like most provincial parks in Southern Ontario it is well delineated, clean and densely populated with humid continental deciduous forest-like vegetation.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon (a bit later than expected courtesy of the traffic exiting the city) and set up shop as soon as possible. Our friends had reached the destination beforehand and assisted us with the tent assembly and site preparation.

Despite the user-friendly nature of the modern tent there are still one or two rods that are remarkably similar and have the tendency to torpedo a well thought out assembly strategy. Ever the theorist the lesson in practicality drawn from this experience is most humbling.

That night we barbecued the required Hamburgers (which I like) and Hot Dogs (which I don’t) as the kids took off with their respective friends – riding bikes, playing on the grounds and taking full advantage of what can only be described as leisure heaven (for them anyway).

Sunday was the day at the beach and boy did we enjoy ourselves. Seven hours or so in the water – canoeing, paddle boating, building sand castles and swimming. Armed with water pistols, the kids sprayed one another (and their father) during a frenzy period of activity uninterrupted by time’s stingy hand. I loved it and so did they. It reminded me of my fortunate childhood vacationing in Durban, Umhlanga Rocks, Cape Town, Muisenberg and George with not a care in the world. We celebrated the air, the water and the blissful feeling of freedom - a life with no worries. This is what I wanted for my own kids and right here on an isolated beach somewhere on Turtle Island they were enjoying the same experience.

The evening events took a bit of a turn for the worse as the storm that was threatening unleashed its torrent of rain that continued throughout the night. Out came the rain ponchos as we huddled under tarps hoping for an end to the onslaught that only came in the wee hours of the morning. However its moments like this that build strength (at least this is what I kept telling myself) and our team of campers held firm against an onslaught of lightning and thunder that at times seemed relentless. The tent leaked a bit but we managed to contain it and although our sleep was not restful we emerged the next morning bedraggled, unkempt and tired but with our spirits still up.

Onward to Monday and of course the clean-up. The kids enjoyed their last moments at the site and I pattered myself on the back knowing that I had once again overcome my own personal OCD demons around dirt and chaos. Despite the weather we had a great time and would do it again in a second for at the end we were together as a family. This is what matters. Dina and I couldn’t have asked for more.

Physics Reading List

Books I recommend

1. The Elegant Universe – Brian Greene - excellent introduction into the fundamentals of Modern Physics.

2. Hyperspace – Michio Kaku - wonderful take on extra-dimensions by a strong narrator.
3. The Ideas of Physics – Ernest Hutten - an oldie but a goldie – discusses key ideas that shaped the discipline.
4. Fearful Symmetry – A. Zee - Looks at the Beauty in Physics.
5. Physics of Immortality – Frank Tipler - a bit over the top but highly entertaining nevertheless.
6. Theories of Everything – John Barrow - Low key but well written.
7. Feynman Lecture Series – Richard Feynman - A struggle for the lay person but if you can get through a third of it your effort will be rewarded.
8. The Trouble with Physics – Lee Smolin - an important critique of the group think that has encroached on the discipline.
9. Physics – Douglas Giancoli - Doesn’t matter what the edition is its treatment of classical physics is praiseworthy.
10. The Flying circus of Physics – Jearl Walker – Challenging problems that force one to really think deep.
11. Relativity Simply Explained – Martin Gardiner – Its title says it all.
12. The First Three Minutes – Steven Weinberg- Still one of the best treatments of the Big Bang.
13. The Constants of Nature – John Barrow – Delves into the details of these definitive constants that so encapsulate our universe.
14. Thirty Years that Shook Physics: The Story of Quantum Theory – Gamow is a great storyteller and he didn’t disappoint with this useful read.
15. 50 Physics Ideas – Joanne Baker – Lots of fun and really easy to read.

The Problem with Quora

 I generally like the question and answer website Quora but I do find that it has a number of irritations

Here are a few

1. Many Writers are condescending and rude when there is no reason to be so. I suspect that a great deal of those asking questions are kids who may be ignorant of certain facts. Responding politely with a well thought out answer is a far better option.
2. Top Writers dominate key questions despite supplying answers that very often don’t live up to the hype associated with these writers.
3. Obvious liberal bias. While Quora itself has no bias as an organization (as far as I can tell) the Quora community appears to be somewhat of a liberal echo chamber. Even conservative related topics are routinely dominated by liberals who regularly skew Conservative opinions to the applause of a Hurrah chorus.
4. Too many questions are answered with anecdotal evidence only. While these are often great to read they don’t do justice to the broader question being asked.
5. Questions on more nebulous topics are regularly answered with the language of certainty indicating that the author is reluctant to reflect on the strength of their argument.
6. The Trump obsession - enough is enough…let’s move on here.

Reflections XVII - Some Silver Nuggets

The danger of a growing empire is that with its growing hubris it often outsources its security to those that don’t have at its best interests at heart. Rome and Britain both felt prey to such a mentality.

 Regardless of historical era there has never been a shortage of spokespeople for god.

 To someone motivated by ambition truth is never a premium.

 The one commonality of sports pundits is their innate ability to make wrong predictions. They do this by chronically looking backward while driving forward.

 An institution will prosper if it has enough of a talent pool in the working body to correct for the inevitable errors of its upper echelons.

 The pitfall with political prediction is that it cannot resist the temptation to confuse the ‘is’ for the ‘ought’

Remember what you stand for

 It is my experience that if you wish to live a life of meaning that you also have beliefs that are well thought out, clear, non-intentionally hurtful and are based as best as possible on sound reasoning and logic. Now I can’t say that you should divorce emotion from your beliefs, as we are human after all, but this emotion should not override the judgement that is formed along rational lines. 

In the day-to-day chaos of life, we often sideline our conscious realization of these beliefs, even if we act sub-consciously with the same ideals in mind. This promotes somewhat of a sleepwalking approach to life that we should eschew. 

To escape such a pathology (and on one level it is such a phenomenon) I would suggest a daily cataloguing and listing of both one’s primary and secondary beliefs. This does not have to span volumes, but should be both succinct and encompassing in such a manner that it brings to mind the core of what we are as agents of free will (one of my key beliefs). I have followed such a course of action for sometime now and find it to be both refreshing and re-affirming of my role as an active player in life.

Reflections XVI - MIxed Passage of Thought

Lies survive as they provide comfort for people.

The easiest pathway for a civilization to take is regression for it requires so little effort.

One should learn from one’s successes just as much our failures for many a success was delivered on the back of a fortuitous turn of events that may never repeat themselves.

No society will ever advance if its primary objective is the destruction of another as opposed to the growth of itself. This is the Palestinian tragedy.

The problem with politics is that as much as one tries to ignore it, you are immediately stung by the reality that it is etched into all aspects of the life struggle.

 

My thoughts on Christmas

As a Jew I have to admit I like Christmas. I don't celebrate it but the sentiment, the holiday spirit and culture of giving that it engenders in a modern western society is refreshing. While I take issue with some of the gross commercialization, I can also see from an economic perspective why this is somewhat justified.

Many people wish me 'Merry Christmas' and I have no issue with this. Nothing. I don't correct them because I am Jewish and I certainly am not offended by their obvious assumption that I too celebrate the holiday. It is understandable. Christianity has been an important driver in our civilization.

All too often people I know are incensed by such remarks but in my opinion there is not much to fuss over. If you are secure in what you yourself believe and have principles and standards that you adhere to, what difference does a Merry Christmas make?